Most appealing cars of 2009

Sales at Porsche and Volkswagen may be sluggish–Porsche sales in June were down 66 per cent from last year; VWs were down 18 per cent–and both have been embroiled for months in tense merger discussions. But when it comes to raw appeal, their cars still own the hearts and minds of American drivers.
The Porsche Cayenne won the premium SUV segment in a recent buyer satisfaction study of 2009 model-year vehicles, and Porsche placed first for the fifth consecutive year as the industry’s most appealing brand. Four Volkswagen vehicles (the CC, GTI, Passat and Tiguan) earned top spots as the most appealing cars in their classes.

Some domestics, long thought to struggle with design and performance, also fared well. The Dodge Challenger won the Midsize Sporty Car category; Cadillac and Lincoln placed in the top 10 brands overall.

Behind the Numbers

The annual Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) study identifies what 80,900 purchasers and lessees of new 2009 model-year vehicles liked and disliked about their cars during the first 90 days of ownership. Questions focused on vehicle design, content, layout and performance; responses were gathered between February and May of this year. Scores are out of a possible 1,000 points. The industry average is 779.

The study evaluated how well vehicles performed relative to consumer expectations. This year found a ’significant level of improvement in terms of appeal’ across the board, the report concluded, due in large part to increases in fuel efficiency and the lower price of gas.

Porsche scored 869 out of a possible 1,000 points. Jaguar, Cadillac,Audi and BMW rounded out the top five brands listed. Mercedes-Benzhad two segment-winners in the S-Class and SLK-Class, and its sister brand under Daimler, the Smart Fortwo, won the Sub-Compact Car segment.

Tony Fouladpour, a spokesman for Porsche, says that a distinction honouring design, far from being trivial when compared with accolades honouring durability or quality, can directly affect a company’s bottom line.

‘It demonstrates that passion, that relationship that owners have with their vehicles,’ he says. ‘So for us it’s a very important award.’

A car’s appeal is becoming more and more important to struggling automakers. Overall sales are down 39.2 per cent year to date for domestics; they’re down 32.2 per cent and 26 per cent this year for Asian and European brands, respectively. Forecasters say U.S. sales won’t exceed 10 million units in 2009, down more than 6 million units from the high in 2006. But for individual domestic winners in particular, high appeal scores could hint at better things to come, says David Sargent, vice president of automotive research at J.D. Power and Associates.

‘The domestics historically have sometimes struggled with this but increasingly are coming out with very strong products and much better launch-execution than in the past,’ Sargent says. ‘They are in many cases launching better than the Japanese.’

Daring to Be Different

Likewise, the $21,119 MINI Cooper, winner of the Compact Car category, proves design can give an edge to vehicles not renowned for quality. Despite its recently low ratings in J.D. Power’s quality survey and lower-than-average ratings in its 2009 dependability study, Cooper sales in the U.S. are down less than 20 per cent this year, much less than the national average of 35.4 per cent, and less than the Smart Fortwo (down 24.8 per cent), Volkswagen New Beetle (down 43.7 per cent) and Audi A3 (down 37.5 per cent.)

A perennially high placement on consumer satisfaction surveys and a famous rally-car style–two factors directly related to design–have driven those sales, Sargent says.

Indeed, Craig House, 62, who owns a 2002 MINI Cooper S and two classic Minis, loves the cars so much he paid the deposit for the newly redesigned Mini a full two years before the car hit showrooms. At that point, he hadn’t even seen a photo of what the new version might look like.
But for a true enthusiast like House, who happens to be the president of the Oregon Mini Society, it didn’t matter.
‘What really sold me on the new car was the fact that BMW designed it,’ he says. ‘I knew it was going to be an excellent car.’

In Pictures: The Most Appealing 2009 Cars

Forbes.com - Hannah Elliott