Ram and Alfa Romeo’s website designers can pat themselves on the back, as the brands lead the mass market and premium categories in J.D. Power’s twice annual Manufacturer Website Evaluation Study.
The Stellantis brands weren’t alone in doing a good job, though. Overall, the industry average is improving in both the premium and mass market segments, the study found. In the former, average satisfaction is 724 out of 1,000 this summer, up two points as compared to the winter, and 13 points as compared to last summer. Similarly, the satisfaction with mass market brands’ websites is at 713 points out of 1,000, up by five points as compared to the winter, and eight points up on last summer.
In the premium segment, Alfa Romeo led with 755 points, up six points over BMW, 10 points ahead of Infiniti, 14 points past of Jaguar, and 18 points up on Porsche. By contrast, Volvo and Audi trail the pack with 689 points, and are behind Genesis (699 points), Tesla (720), and Cadillac (721), all of which perform worse than the segment average.
Read: High Tech In Luxury Cars Comes With A Reliability Tradeoff, J.D. Power Study Shows
Meanwhile, in the mass market segment, Ram leads with an impressive 735 points, which puts it six points ahead of GMC, seven points atop its stablemate Jeep, eight points beyond Subaru, and 22 points ahead of the industry average.
Like Audi, Volkswagen’s website was the worst performer in its segment, and the lowest-scoring industry-wide with 683 points. It lagged behind Ford (684), Buick (689), Hyundai, 693), and Nissan (705).
While a brand’s website is not necessarily reflective of its vehicles’ quality, it is the first point of contact for many shoppers, making it an important area of focus. According to J.D. Power, an attractive site that’s easy to navigate, and is quick can enhance customers’ experiences and get them into showrooms. It is a notably difficult thing to get right, though.
“Website satisfaction can be volatile and automotive websites are not immune to changing preferences,” said Jon Sundberg, director of digital solutions at J.D. Power. “However, manufacturers have shown to be very agile when it comes to website design and ensuring their sites meet modern standards, more so than many other industries, as exemplified through the study data.”
