Chevrolet Owners Rate the Brand Above Ford — But Still Far Behind MINI
A. Krivonosov
Chevrolet scored 850 in JD Power's 2026 APEAL study, edging out Ford but trailing MINI by 25 points. The Blazer topped its segment.
Chevrolet beat the mainstream-brand average in the JD Power APEAL study by just four points. The American brand scored 850 out of 1,000, ranking eighth among the automakers included in the study, sandwiched between Volkswagen at 851 and Ford at 849.
MINI topped the mainstream segment for a third straight year with a score of 875. Hyundai followed with 858 and Kia with 857. Other General Motors brands also beat the 846-point average: GMC reached 852, while Buick scored 848.
At the model level, Chevrolet claimed one win: the Blazer topped the midsize-crossover segment. General Motors picked up three awards overall, as the GMC Yukon and Cadillac Escalade also led their categories.
BMW Group took home the most awards of any manufacturer, with six segment wins. The result shouldn't be read as a reliability endorsement — APEAL measures emotional attachment and the ownership experience over the first 90 days: seat comfort, interior, design, infotainment, driving dynamics and dozens of other traits.
Defects and malfunctions are tracked in a separate ranking, the Initial Quality Study. The survey polled 78,514 owners of 2026 model-year vehicles. Average market satisfaction rose seven points to 858, the largest annual gain since 2018. Buyers responded most strongly to changes in interiors, storage and ease of entry.
Chevrolet's showing is respectable but without much cushion: just one point separates it from Ford, one point from Volkswagen, and 25 points from MINI. The real win wasn't the eighth-place overall finish — it was the Blazer topping its direct rivals.
According to 32CARS.RU, Chevrolet is urging owners to get their Takata airbags replaced for free before it's too late.
