People Are More Emotionally Attached And Excited About Cars Than Ever

For the first time in nearly a decade, each of the 10 categories that are tracked as part of J.D. Power’s U.S. Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) Study saw improved scores over the previous year.

For 2025, the overall satisfaction score came in at 851, as measured on a 1,000-point scale. That represents an increase of 4 index points over 2024, and J.D. Power says it’s the highest level of satisfaction measured by the APEAL Study since it was last redesigned in 2020.

J.D. Power’s APEAL Study is designed to measure “owners' emotional attachment and level of excitement with their new vehicle.” That helps to explain why brands like Land Rover and Jaguar, which don’t typically score highly in reliability rankings, perform well on the APEAL Study.

Two brands that fall into the Premium category and scored well, but aren’t included in the results, are Rivian (896) and Tesla (892). As you can see by the numbers, both of the American EV brands would sit atop Porsche, the official victor, but since they don’t meet the full criteria of J.D. Power’s testing, their results are unofficial.

With a score of 850, Audi was the lowest-ranked Premium brand on the 2025 APEAL Study. Acura scored one point higher at 851.

At the other end of the scoring spectrum, Chrysler’s 813-point tally is the worst overall score. Mazda’s score of 828 and Subaru’s score of 832 are better, but still put them in the bottom three. Honda (833) and Toyota (839), two Japanese automakers that typically score highly in reliability studies, both came in below the Mass Market category average.

Mass Market brands, as defined by J.D. Power, don’t score as highly as Premium brands. The average score of Premium brands sits at 881, which is considerably higher than the average Mass Market score of 840. Still, scores are up across the board this year compared to the year prior.

“Manufacturers have made significant advancements that continue to redefine the vehicle ownership experience and have become more adept at translating innovation into meaningful customer engagement,” said Frank Hanley, senior director of auto benchmarking at J.D. Power. “However, the study finds that owners of new models have lower levels of satisfaction with vehicle setup and startup—as well as infotainment systems—compared with owners of carryover models. This suggests that increasing technology and menu complexity remain persistent challenges for the industry.”

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