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Porsche, Jaguar continue dominance in 2015 JD Power APEAL study

The top of JD Power's 2015 APEAL Study has not changed much in the last year. Porsche remains No. 1 with Jaguar nipping at its heels, although both premium brands saw their overall score fall compared to 2014. For those that need a refresher, the APEAL Study looks at how "gratifying" a vehicle is to own and drive, rating cars and brands on a 1,000-point scale. The industry average for 2015 has increased from 794 to 798, while the total number of automakers that finished above the curve increased from 16 to 20. While Porsche and Jaguar finished at the top, their scores dropped eight and seven points, respectively, to 874 and 855. The top "non-premium" brand was Mini, which scored an impressive 825, up from 795. If the BMW-owned British marque is still a bit too premium for your tastes, last year's non-premium winner, Hyundai, did climb five points and is this year's runner up. At the opposite end of the scale, Smart sits at the very bottom of the rankings, with a score of 683 (it didn't appear on the 2014 rankings). Fiat also dropped, from fourth worst in 2014 to second worst in 2015, despite the 500 being named most appealing city car. Subaru made an impressive climb, from third worst to seventh, falling just 10 points shy of the industry average and two points south of the non-premium average. In the individual vehicle segments, eight brands earned multiple awards, with Ford, Chevrolet, and Porsche earning three apiece. Surprise segment victories included the new Ford Expedition, which beat out Chevy's popular Suburban. The Infiniti QX80 bested the likes of the Cadillac Escalade and Range Rover for best large luxury SUV, and the Dodge Challenger beat its muscle car rivals from Ford and Chevy. Most of the victories, though, were quite predictable. The Mazda6 and CX-5 took wins for the midsize sedan and compact SUV categories respectively, while the Volkswagen Golf captured the compact car win. The Ford F-150 won the large pickup category, while the Porsche Cayman was named most appealing compact premium sporty car. Check out the official release on the 2015 APEAL Study, available below, from JD Power. 2015 U.S. APEAL Study Results The latest safety-related technologies are among the drivers of customer satisfaction with new vehicles, according to the J.D. Power 2015 U.S.

With the Subaru Viziv Performance Concept, be careful getting your hopes up

Subaru fans have reason to be excited. The company revealed the Viziv Performance Concept at the Tokyo Motor Show, and it's pretty obvious that it's a preview of a future WRX. The big vents, hood scoop, fenders, and its sedan profile all shout WRX. Someone from Subaru's design department even confirmed that the study could influence the next model. While admiring the concept's lines and imagining the next model, we, as well as some of our commenters, realized that we should keep our hopes and expectations low. The reason for this is that Subaru pulled a bit of a bait-and-switch with WRX styling before, back in 2013. That year, the company revealed the WRX Concept. It, like the Viziv Performance Concept, was a vented, scooped, flared, low-roof interpretation of the next WRX. Everyone loved it, and they were psyched to see a Subaru that could truly be described as beautiful, rather than say, unique, or interesting, or different, or any other kindhearted euphemism. View 11 Photos Then Subaru unveiled the production WRX for 2015. To the company's credit, it did manage to include design cues from the concept such as the fender flare lines and fascia shape, and it shared very few exterior panels with the Impreza. Unfortunately, it was still based on the Impreza platform, and those lines had to be pulled in and compressed onto the tall and narrow economy car. Without the low roof, ultra-wide fenders, and long, defined trunk, the car lost a lot in translation. The result thoroughly disappointed, and on occasion infuriated, fans. Basically, we've been burned before by Subaru's concepts. Heck, if you want more proof, take a look at the Subaru BRZ STI Performance concept that had a turbocharged engine. And yet, we still have no turbo BRZ on the market. But just because we're trying to be realistic doesn't mean Subaru won't surprise us with a close-to-concept WRX in the future. And the company is showing some signs that its concepts are more realistic. Looking at the evolution of the Viziv-7 concept into the Ascent concept and production prototypes, it seems a lot of the original design has survived. So hope isn't lost, just tempered. Related Video: Featured Gallery Subaru Viziv Performance Concept Tokyo Motor Show View 12 Photos Tokyo Motor Show Subaru Concept Cars Performance Sedan 2017 tokyo motor show subaru wrx concept subaru viziv perfromance concept

Subaru XV runs over dog in Russian ad, but in a funny way

In case you're wondering, no, the woman didn't actually hit the dog. This is just a commercial, and a fairly clever one after you get over the perceived canicide, that's meant to show off the desirability of Subaru's lifted Impreza wagon, the XV Crosstrek.
We'll try not to spoil it for you, because it is a fairly humorous piece, but you have to make sure to watch it from start to finish. The found-footage angle of it, which sort of presents it with the same quality as a Russian dashcam video, just adds to the video's ridiculous premise.
We aren't sure if this is an actual ad from the Russian arm of Subaru, as it seems to be posted from an independent account with only one video to its credit. Still, have a look below, and let us know what you think.