Hyundai has done wonders to change its image in recent years; they’re going through a process of pushing upmarket (with cars like the new Genesis), while at the same time establishing the sector of the market they own a great deal of, with the kind of cars we’re used to them making, like the appreciated Accent.
It has been chosen by JD Power as being “its most appealing small car,” as part of its 2014 Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) study. The APEAL study “examines owners’ assessments of the design, content, layout and performance of their new vehicle.”
This comes after another study put out by JD Power, called the Initial Quality Study (or IQS); it’s explained in the video posted below. Here, Hyundai as a brand was the highest-ranked of all non-premium names, while also climbing several spots in the overall standings to place 13th overall.
They could have had more study-topping cars, had the new Genesis managed to snag two more points in its midsize sedan sector, as this would have taken its score up from 819 to 821 (out of a total of 1,000) points and placed it first in the category. The asymmetrical Veloster did well too, finishing second in its respective class.
Last year it was VW that dominated the APEAL study, with five model-level awards, followed by GM and Ford – Hyundai was considerably lower in the standings in 2013, so the jump it’s made now is significant.
By Andrei Nedelea
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