Kia’s Crowned APEAL King: Several Models Rule the Road in 2024 Study

Awards and accolades are incredibly valuable to us here at Jim Butler Kia of St. Louis, as they officially back our commitment to stellar quality! Kia America has set a new standard in the J.D. Power 2024 Automotive Performance, Execution, and Layout (APEAL) Study, securing an impressive five model-level awards—the most of any contender this year. This remarkable achievement also highlights Kia's strong position in the Mass Market segment, where it holds its position as the third highest-performing brand.

This marked the 4th consecutive year that the K5 was the highest-ranked Midsize Car, while the all-electric EV6 and Carnival dominated their respective segments for the third row straight. Excitement among BEV owners is now at an all-time high as the EV9 claimed its first Upper Midsize SUV segment award during its first year on the market. The Forte reigns proud as the highest-ranked Compact Car for the second year running! The K5 and Kia Carnival were also included in the brand-wide achievement with consecutive awards of their own.

The J.D. Power 2024 U.S. APEAL Study is now composed of detailed responses from over 80,000 owners of brand-new vehicles. The respondents were surveyed after the first 3 months of ownership. This study measures how well each new vehicle provides exceptional experiences with perceived quality, design, performance, safety, usability, and comfort. This caliber of study helps automakers understand just how a new vehicle performs against its targets and core competitors. It also is an excellent guide for which product priorities should be placed for the development of models in the future.

Some of the experience groups for APEAL include walking up to your vehicle and getting in and out. Using the infotainment system, driving comfort, and satisfaction with the interior are other traits the organization pays attention to during their evaluations. Fuel usage is another scrutinized category, as consumers are rightfully concerned about making every dollar count. Owner satisfaction with new vehicle design and performance has now rebounded after the previous two years of study showed a considerable decline.

The 2024 Kia K5 arrived on the scene with the unique style and substance to set it apart from many other family sedans in the same segment. It places a focus on being easy to drive and offering the luxury touch needed for long trips. It’s now offered with the choice of two turbocharged engines, with the base engine cranking out 180 horsepower and the GT stepping things up to 290 hp. The Edmunds.com team claimed that the K5 “is as silent on the highway as some luxury sedans, with a suspension that soaks up road imperfections and is not overly soft.”

The 2024 Kia EV9 was billed by The Drive as “a three-row family SUV that will smoke its V8-powered competitors at traffic lights, and burn a total of zero hydrocarbons while doing so.” This is an incredibly stylish model that they also claimed boasts the best interior to ever wear a Kia badge. Even the base-level trims have a strong assortment of cabin tech and driver aid, with the Wind, Land, and GT-Line models swapping in the larger 99.8-kWh battery. After the addition of a towing package, the dual-motor EV9 examples also claim up to 5,000 lbs of towing capacity.