Does APEAL Matter?

We give little weight to subjective studies like J.D. Power’s annual list of vehicles with the best APEAL — Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout — which was just released. It would be hard to find many car owners who don’t rank their well-thought-out purchase as a good one. However, when you scroll through the list of winners in each segment — like BusinessWeek allows in a handy slideshow — it’s hard to argue with many of the winners.

Out of the 19 segments, we only take extreme issue with the Toyota Yaris tying the Honda Fit for top subcompact car. The Nissan Armada topping the Chevy Tahoe and Suburban also makes little sense. The fact that no Chrysler products make the list isn’t a big shocker, though. What do you think? Do studies like this matter?

Most Gratifying Vehicles of 2007 (BusinessWeek)