J.D. Power Releases 2009 APEAL Study

The overall winner in the 2009 APEAL study was Porsche, which maintained its dominance in the top spot for the fifth straight year. Rounding out the top five were several other luxury brands: Jaguar, Cadillac, Audi and BMW.

Individual categories included one decent upset: In the Midsize Premium Car category, the Hyundai Genesis beat out both the BMW 5 Series and the Jaguar XF. Other winners of interest included the Dodge Challenger, Volkswagen CC, Ford Flex and Nissan Maxima — all relatively new models.

The Smart ForTwo didn’t exactly wow our reviewers, but it did take the prize for top subcompact, beating out the Scion xD and Honda Fit.

The one area where Detroit dominated was in the Large Pickup category, where the Chevy Avalanche and Ford F-150 took the top slots, with the Dodge Ram coming in third.

J.D. Power gathered information from 80,900 owners or lessees of new 2009 models for the study, including questions on more than 90 vehicle attributes.

Most Appealing Cars and Trucks (J.D. Power & Associates)