As if you need another reason to visit Heritage Volkswagen Parkville to test drive great VW vehicles like a 2016 Volkswagen Passat near Towson, MD, here’s another: in J.D. Power’s recently announced Automotive Performance, Execution, and Layout (APEAL) study, the Volkswagen brand was rated the highest non-luxury make. That’s right, Volkswagen models bested quality brands like Toyota, Infiniti, and Acura, while closing in on luxury nameplates like Audi, Volvo, Cadillac, and Lincoln.
2001 was the last time that the Volkswagen brand led the non-premium sector, and Volkswagen models returned to the top in a big way, exceeding the non-premium average score by 15 points. The APEAL study’s goal is simple: ascertain how fulfilling a new vehicle is in terms of ownership and performance. More than 80,000 new automobile purchasers were asked, after their first 90 days of ownership, to provide their input across a huge range of vehicle attributes (77 in all) – and the Volkswagen brand was far and away the best-reviewed non-luxury make. In five core sections: style, features and instrument panel, performance, comfort, and overall performance/design, the Volkswagen brand excelled, with its highest score coming in performance. No surprise here, considering that the Volkswagen brand counts high-performance models like the Volkswagen Golf-R and the Volkswagen Jetta GTI amongst its diverse offering.
Hinrich J. Woebcken, President and CEO of Volkswagen Group of America, summed things up best when he said, “The J.D. Power APEAL study is a great proof point of a brand’s appeal to new car buyers. It’s very encouraging for everyone in the company that Volkswagen heads up the non-premium nameplates for the first time since 2001.”
The Volkswagen brand is going places, and you can too when you visit us to test drive some of our fantastic models, including a Volkswagen Beetle near Essex, MD!
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