1986 Jaguar Xjs Base Coupe 2-door 5.3l on 2040-cars

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2023 J.D. Power APEAL Study shows new-car customer satisfaction scores slip

J.D. Power survey results have been slightly up but mostly down for automakers this year, literally. In February, the 2023 Vehicle Dependability Study showed an overall decline compared the 2022 a month before the Customer Service Index Study did the same. The trend reversed in June with a better overall score on the 2023 U.S. Electric Vehicle Consideration Study than in 2022, then declined again the same month on with a lower overall score on the 2023 Initial Quality Study. The declines continue with the 2023 J.D. Power U.S. Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) Study, overall satisfaction among the 84,555 respondents down two points overall compared to 2022, to 845 out of 1,000 points. Because last year's score dropped compared to 2021, this year marks the first consecutive decline in the study's 28-year history. The study tries to "[measure] owners' emotional attachment and level of excitement with new vehicle" after 90 days of ownership by asking new owners to rate 37 attributes in 10 areas around the vehicle, such as the feeling they get when they hit the accelerator. Satisfaction with nine of the attributes is down this year versus last, fuel economy the only segment to show better results with 15 points more satisfaction. Styling and infotainment are big drags on satisfaction. Responses to new car exterior looks tallied 888 points, down from 894 last year, the largest drop in this year's study. On the digital side, less than half of those surveyed this year said they prefer using a manufacturer's built-in infotainment. From 70% of respondents in 2020 preferring to use a manufacturer's in-house software to play audio instead of Android Auto or Apple CarPlay, that's 56% in 2023. Going all-in on Google appears to have the best effect. J.D. Power said that vehicles with both Google's Android Automotive Operating System (AAOS) and Google Automotive Services (GAS) "score higher in the infotainment category than those with no AAOS whatsoever. AAOS without GAS receives the lowest scores for infotainment of the three categories."  Frank Hanley, senior director of auto benchmarking at J.D. Power, said, "Despite the technology and design innovations that manufacturers put into new vehicles, owners are lukewarm about them. While innovations like charging pads, vehicle apps and advanced audio features should enhance an owner’s experience, this is not the case when problems are experienced.

Jaguar puts Mourinho on ice

There is principal among the persecuted to embrace insults and turn them around. That's how the gay community turned "queer" from a pejorative term into a badge of pride. Now Jaguar has done the same with "footballer's car." While this has been generally seen as the UK equivalent of a "rapper's car," generally a big four-wheel-drive such as a Range Rover, blinged up so as to make it unusable off-road, Jaguar has taken the curious step of deliberately putting a footballer in the new F-Pace. Before you can even buy a Jaguar F-Pace, the company has taken ex-Chelsea and Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho to Northern Sweden to drive a prototype on ice. And there is not an ounce of bling about the event. It was run on 60 km (37 miles) of frozen lake at Jaguar Land Rover's extreme testing facility in Arjeplog, Sweden, which is 40 miles from the Arctic Circle. And it's not just JLR engineers who get to do this. Jaguar sells the "Jaguar Ice Drive Experience," while Porsche has something similar and if you really want to go for it there is a company that does it in Porsches, Maseratis, and the wonderful Alfa 4C. But those are not footballers' cars. Jag quotes Mourinho as saying, "The experience was magnificent. For people in my world, I think a few days in a place like this is magnificent." However even if you read it in a Spanish accent it still sounds like it was written by a PR man. Ditto the quote "I am always learning. Even in football, which is an area that obviously I feel that I'm an expert, I'm never perfect and I always learn." What Jaguar gets out of the association is some quotes about Mourinho's plans – he's going to stay in the UK – which means the major UK papers might pick it up. They probably will and then ignore all the cool ice driving stuff. What we get as car nuts is some awesome footage of the car power-sliding with rooster tails of snow. It's a good looking car; I've seen some testing on the roads around Jaguar's home of Coventry and did a double take. It's a little Macan-like but better looking. I've driven the F-Type with both the 375-HP V6 used in the Mourinho F-Pace piece and the 550-hp supercharged V8, and the V6 is plenty. Until you drive the V8, which blows your mind way. Indeed I have the letter on my desk pleading guilty to the fixed penalty (62 in a 50) that I picked up in the F-Type. What you can't tell from the video is how good the V6 sounds. How it does a nice little wake-the-neighbours blip when you switch it on.

Audi, Jag, Kia and Tesla top Strategic Vision 2014 Total Quality Index

A couple weeks ago, J.D. Power released its latest Initial Quality Study, which gave high marks to Porsche, Hyundai and General Motors, with the latter earning more individual IQS awards than any other manufacturer. Now, it's Strategic Vision's turn, and it's doling out its praise not to Porsche, but to Tesla, which wasn't even included in the JD Power IQS.
The Model S was named the best vehicle overall in total quality, while Porsche's corporate brother and endurance-racing rival, Audi, was named the best premium brand, alongside Jaguar. Strategic Vision cited the Q5 and the ancient Q7 for individual segment awards, as well as the A5, which was a mere point off the top of its segment. SV also handed out compliments for the Audi's interior work. The win for the German brand is a nice improvement over its IQS score, with which it landed above the industry average, but solidly mid-pack.
Jaguar was without a segment winner, although SV did say that the Indian-owned English brand had a number of vehicles very near the top of their segments. This is the second significant win for Jag in two weeks, after it finished second overall on the JD Power IQS a few weeks ago.