In its first few years of production, the Ford Bronco Sport has proven to be universally appealing across a broad demographic, and it has racked up its fair share of accolades, to boot. In fact, the small crossover ranked first in the 2021 J.D Power APEAL Study, and followed that up with a second-place ranking in 2022, which it coupled with a third-place finish in the 2023 J.D. Power U.S. Initial Quality Study (IQS). Now, the Ford Bronco Sport has once again ranked as one of the top small SUVs/crossovers in the recently-released 2023 APEAL Study, too.
This year, the Ford Bronco Sport tied with the Chevy Trailblazer for second place in the small SUV/crossover segment of J.D. Power’s APEAL Study, ranking only behind the Mini Countryman. Regardless, these were the only three models to make the cut in this year’s APEAL Study in this particular category.
As a whole – for the first time in the 28-year history of the APEAL Study – the overall market suffered a consecutive year-over-year decline in owner satisfaction, dropping by two points last year and three in 2021. This particular study measures owners’ emotional attachment and level of excitement with their new vehicle by asking them to consider 37 different attributes. This year’s results were derived from the responses of 84,555 owners of new 2023 model-year vehicles who were surveyed after 90 days of ownership.
“The decline in consecutive years might look small, but it’s an indicator that larger issues may lie under the surface,” said Frank Hanley, senior director of auto benchmarking at J.D. Power. “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. This downward trajectory of satisfaction should be a warning sign to manufacturers that they need to better understand what owners really want in their new vehicles.”
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Comment
Bronco Sport. This is like saying the Jeep Compass is a real Jeep. It’s embarrassing. It’s a scaled down Ford Explorer that says Bronco. Almost as bad as the Bronco II.