Tag Archives: JD Power

Where’s Affordability?

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Prices keep going north, not south. . .

By Gary S. Vasilash

Apparently vehicle affordability is like the weather, with lots of talk and not much else.

According to the just-released JD Power and GlobalData report for February 2026 new vehicle sales, the average retail transaction price is expected to be $46,303, a 2.7% increase over last year.

That’s a 2.6% bump for EV prices (to $46,528) and a 3% bump for the rest (to $46,097).

Isn’t that a move in the wrong direction for consumers?

What is surprising is that discounts for EVs in February are expected to average $10,356—and that’s a reduction of $1,664 from February 2025.

So that would mean that last February there were an average $12,020 in discounts and potentially a $7,500 tax credit. With all that on offer, on the order of $19,500, it would seem that lots of EVs would have been sold in February 2025, yet the firms note that for this February EV sales will be off only 1.8% from last year, to 6.6% of the market.

Didn’t some auto execs last February look at those numbers and consider that maybe the consumer demand wasn’t turning out the way they thought it would? Yes, the elimination of the tax credit was a huge blow, but when big discounts aren’t getting it done, you’ve got to wonder.

And here’s something that speaks to the K-shaped economy that is now manifest in the U.S.

Speaking to the issue of the decline in EV sales, Tyson Jominy, senior vp of OEM customer success at JD Power, said:

“The pullback is concentrated in the mass market, where EV share contracted to 1.9% from 4.0% a year ago. In contrast, EVs represent over 26.4% of premium sales year to date – a figure which includes direct-to-consumer brands – and only 5 percentage points below last year’s pace.”

Apparently the premium space has plenty of EV sales, comparatively speaking.

Another affordability-related finding is that even though the average interest rate for new-vehicle loans is 6.72%, a decline of 0.31 percentage points from February 2025 the average monthly finance payments are up $32, to $811.

Also up in the finance space is the percentage of loans that are greater than or equal to 84 months (a.k.a. seven years): 12.7%, an increase of 5 percentage points from February 2025.

Again, a move in the wrong direction if affordability is what everyone would like to achieve.

Makes you think “everyone” isn’t all that interested in achieving it.

A Visit to the Service Department

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People smile about as much when waiting for their vehicles to be serviced as they do while waiting for an appointment with an endodontist

By Gary S. Vasilash

Once upon a time, General Motors’ Saturn had the kind of customer satisfaction—both in terms of the showroom and in the service department—that other brands (including GM brands) could only dream of. And evidently they did more dreaming than modeling those excellent Saturn methods.

Remember: Saturn was selling to the mass market.

While Lexus, which was also renowned for service in its early days, had a cappuccino machine for people who were waiting for their vehicles to be serviced, Saturn had a popcorn machine.

That’s the difference between “premium” and “mass market.”

Still, even if it is a great service department, no one really wants to have to take their vehicle in. It is generally inconvenient. And that is just one issue.

For 46 years JD Power has been conducting its U.S. Customer Service Index (CSI) Study.

This year it found that consumers are rating their service experience higher this go than last year: on a 1,000-point scale it rates 868, a three-point increase.

That has more than a little something to do with the experience in the premium segment, which is up eight points to 886.

Meanwhile, in the mass market, the score is 865, another three-point rise.

In the premium space the top three for overall customer satisfaction are:

  1. Porsche:                           915
  2. Infiniti:                             912
  3. Lexus:                               900

But what’s interesting to consider is that in 2025 Porsche sold 76,219 vehicles in the U.S., Infiniti sold 52,846, and Lexus sold 370,260 vehicles.

In other words, you could add Porsche and Infiniti together and then double that number and it still wouldn’t reach the Lexus 370,260 (it is 258,130).

Presumably there’s something to be said for fewer vehicles when it comes to service.

This is almost as clearly borne out in the mass market segment:

  1. MINI:                                887
  2. Subaru:                            886
  3. Buick:                               882

In this case, MINI had 2025 U.S. sales of 28,749, Subaru 643,591, and Buick 198,155.

It is worth noting that Ford came in 4th—and it sold 2,204,124 vehicles in the U.S. in 2025. And had 153 recalls (not all of which required a visit to a service department because there were some modifications made via over-the-air updates).

One of the things that OEMs are banging on about as they justify their developments of autonomous driving technology is “giving back” time to the driver.

They should probably have a chat with their franchised dealers about that notion.

JD Power found that when people bring their cars in for maintenance—oil changes, tire rotations—it takes three times longer at a dealer than it does at an aftermarket service center.

One thing that seems somewhat unusual is the finding that 64% of customers want photo/video documentation along with multi-point inspection results. It is almost as though they are a bit suspicious of what was—or wasn’t—done.

An interesting finding is that customers who have purchased a vehicle from a brand like Tesla or Rivian, direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands, and then go back to a traditional brand for their next vehicle have less satisfaction with that tradition service experience, having had things like mobile service from the DTC brands: in the premium segment the score is 855, or 29 points lower than the mass-market average.

Given that service departments account for as much as some 50% of a dealership’s gross profit, keeping customers satisfied is essential.

Saturn, incidentally, ceased to exist in 2010. Of the four GM brands that the corporation decided to concentrate on as a result of its 2009 bankruptcy, as noted, Buick did well in the 2026 U.S. Customer Service Index Study, coming in third in the mass-market category. Chevrolet came in seventh; GMC came in 10th (at 862, below the segment average of 865); and Cadillac, in the premium category, came in fifth, tied with Lincoln.

Wonder what GM’s numbers would have been like if there was still that “Different Kind of Company” in its portfolio. . . .

Maybe Software Isn’t Their Strong Suit

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Things don’t necessarily get better with time. . .

By Gary S. Vasilash

In the J.D. Power 2022 Initial Quality Study, which looks at how owners feel about vehicles they’ve had for 90 days, things had gone south compared to the study performed for 2021.

The research organization has released figures for the 2025 U.S. Vehicle Dependability study, which is based on how owners feel about their vehicles three years later.

Not so good at the start. Not so good now.

That is, J.D. Power uses a metric called “problems per 100 vehicles” (PP 100).

The 2025 study finds that the industry average is 202 PP 100, which is a 6% increase (or 12 PP 100) compared to people who had owned their vehicles three years last year.

The primary problem is software.

Connecting Android Auto and Apple CarPlay to the vehicle is the top problem. Odds are, this is a problem with the OEMs, not the folks in Cupertino or Mountain View.

J.D. Power says that half of the top 10 problems are related to smartphone integration, usage or connectivity.

Now one of the features that is being boasted about by vehicle manufacturers is “over-the-air” (OTA) update capability. This means just like for your smartphone software can be sent to your OTA-capable vehicle and functions can improved or fixed.

Of those surveyed for the 2025 study, 36% said they’ve performed an OTA during their time with their vehicle.

Then the proverbial shoe drops. . .

• 30% of those owners said there was an improvement after the OTAs. Or 70% evidently didn’t see much in the way of a change.
• 56% said there was no noticeable improvement. Which presumably means that if that 70% perceived hints, this 56% saw nothing.

OEMs are busy working on “software-defined vehicles.” Which means, in part, there can be improvements to a vehicle over its lifetime by the addition of new functions and features. . .through OTAs.

Given what J.D. Power is finding there are probably a lot of people who are not going to speed to their local dealerships when the software-defined vehicles become available.

And it leads to the question of whether the OEMs are really any good at software.

To be sure, things have gotten better between now and then, but odds are if you own a three-year old iPhone or Samsung Galaxy, it was good when you got it and is good today. And there are new features to your phone between then and now, and odds are they work as expected.

Some companies are just better in some areas than they are in others, even if they don’t want to admit it.

About Automotive Loyalty

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Put out good products, and people will come back and buy. . .

By Gary S. Vasilash

J.D. Power has a simple way to calculate customer loyalty to a brand.

Not easy.

But simple.

That is, it gets information from some 16,000 dealers about sales.

Then it creates a subset of those sales: Those that included a customer replacing an existing vehicle with a new one.

Then it creates a subset of that: Those transactions in which the old and new are the same brand.

And so it has released its “J.D. Power 2024 U.S. Automotive Brand Loyalty Study” based on sales between September 2023 through August 2024.

The study includes some things that might be expected and some surprises.

As for the expected: Porsche is the highest-ranked Premium Car and Ford has the high-ranked Truck.

But then things get interesting.

As in the top brand for loyalty in the Premium SUV category: Lexus.

And the Mass Market SUV isn’t something from Ford or GM but Honda.

When it comes to Mass Market Car, the top two are Toyota and Honda.

Of course, when it comes to Mass Market Cars you can’t get one from Ford or GM, as they have abandoned the segment.

Here’s the thing: in the first half of 2024

  • Toyota sold 277,233 Camrys and Corollas
  • Honda sold 210,509 Accords and Civics

I suspect that both companies are making some money on those vehicles.

What’s more, as Lexus is a Toyota brand and as Honda is, well, Honda, they are doing well loyalty-wise when it comes to their SUV offerings, too.

2025 Genesis GV80 3.5T Prestige AWD

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Where style is tied with technology. . . .

By Gary S. Vasilash

A colleague and I were sitting in a new vehicle, an SUV. A premium vehicle. We were checking it out, looking at the surfaces, the way they met, the textures, the fabrics. We looked at the infotainment system and gauge cluster. Where they were positioned. How they were integrated into the overall IP. We adjusted the HVAC louvers. Opened and closed the glovebox.

We gave the interior a solid inspection.

“Does this look like the interior of an $80,000 vehicle?” I asked.

My colleague pondered for a moment.

“Well, it surely isn’t like the interior of something like a Genesis GV80,” he responded.

“Yes, I know. I’m driving one right now.”

And I didn’t make that scene up.

The interior of the GV80 has a lot of tech but it is executed in a way that is more about comfortableness rather than “Gee whiz—look at me! (Images: Genesis)

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A couple weeks later J.D. Power released its 2024 U.S. Tech Experience Index (TXI) Study.

Kathleen Rizk, senior director of user experience benchmarking and technology at J.D. Power, said one determination that they made of the study is: “A strong advanced tech strategy is crucial for all vehicle manufacturers, and many innovative technologies are answering customer needs.”

Genesis ranks highest in the study for innovation, not only in the premium segment that it is included in, but with its score of 584 on a 1,000-point scale, highest overall, including mass market brands.

In the premium segment it is 49 points ahead of Lexus (at 535) and BMW (at 528).

The study looks at four categories: convenience; emerging automation; energy and sustainability; and infotainment and connectivity.

So clearly Genesis pays sufficient attention to these things in order to take the top position.

And it should be worth noting that this makes it four times in a row that Genesis has taken the top spot in TXI.

So within that GV80 not only is there an interior that is comfortable, but an array of infotainment technology.

Which makes it a proverbial double win for those who are within the cabin of the crossover.

If the impressive exterior styling is taken into account, then this means that the vehicle wins a trifecta.

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For the 2025 model year GV80 there was a focus on upping the interior.

While the interior designers followed a design approach they describe at “Beauty of White Space,” it isn’t at all some sort of minimalist execution, not something that makes you think you are sitting in the capsule of a space ship.

Yes, there is a 27-inch wide OLED screen which is as technological as any you’ll find.

But the sumptuous, quilted available Nappa leather seats, the use of real wood and real aluminum for trim, the ergonomic arrangements of the interfaces all make this something that brings to mind a comfortable study more than a department at the local BestBuy.

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The GV80 is powered by a 375-hp 3.5L twin turbo engine that is mated to an eight-speed automatic with paddle shifters.

The 2025 GV80 features a new front end with the “Two-Line Crest Grille” that accents the “Two-Line” headlamps.

It has multi-link suspension setups with high-performance gas shock absorbers all around.

It rides on 20-inch aluminum wheels.

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The whole GV80 package is something that could be characterized as being an “executive car.”

It is stylish but not flashy, powerful but restrained.

It is in a space that used to be wholly inhabited by German marques.

But it more than holds its own compared with them.