The Most Appealing US-Built Cars, Trucks And SUVS

By Gary Gastelu |

Jul 30, 2024

The J.D. Power 2024 U.S. Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) Study was dominated by foreign brands and import vehicles, but there were a few bright spots for US-Built cars, trucks and SUVS.

The annual study is focused on owner’s perceptions about the design, functionality, performance and perceived quality of their vehicles after 90 days, rather than reliability.

The overall average was 847 points out of 1,000, which is up two from 2023.

The premium average beat the mass market average 870 to 843, with Porsche and Mini topping each list.

But how did the American brands and US-built models fare in the study?

LINCOLN

Lincoln was the highest-ranked American brand on the Premium list in sixth and the only one above average with a score of 874. Porsche, Jaguar, Land Rover, BMW and Mercedes-Benz all finished ahead of it. Cadillac finished just below average at 868.

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RIVIAN

Rivian outscored Lincoln with 900 points, but it wasn’t able to provide a full national dataset, so it isn’t officially ranked.

TESLA

Tesla is excluded form the rankings for the same reason as Rivian, but received an unofficial score equivalent to the 870 average.

RAM

Ram was the second-highest mass market make fifth-ranked GMC and seventh-ranked Buick were the only other American brands to score above average.

CAR CRASH

There were no US-built or American brand entries in the top three of any of the individual premium car model category lists, with the the BMW 7-Series ranked highest among all vehicles.

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KIA SPORTAGE

The Georgia-built Kia Sportage finished third among compact SUVs behind the imported Kia EV6 and Mitsubishi Outlander.

BMW X4

The South Carolina-built BMW X4 topped the Compact Premium SUV segment ahead of the Jaguar F-Pace and Porsche Macan.

HYUNDAI SANTA FE

The Alabama-made Hyundai Santa Fe that American Cars And Racing named the 2024 US-Built SUV Of The Year^TM led the Midsize SUV segment.

KIA EV9

Kia just started building the electric EV9 in West Point, Ga., but the identical early models imported from Korea had the highest score in the Upper Midsize SUV segment. The Kia Telluride that’s been produced in West Point since it launched for the 2020 model year finished second.

BMW X6

The South Carolina-built BMW X6 tied the Range Rover Velar for second in the Upper Midsize Premium SUV segment behind the German-made BMW iX electric SUV.

JEEP WAGONEER

The Michigan-made Jeep Wagoneer beat the Texas-made GMC Yukon in the Large SUV segment.

CADILLAC ESCALADE

The Cadillac Escalade that’s built alongside the GMC Yukon in Texas was also a second-place finisher, but in the Large Premium SUV segment behind the imported Land Rover Range Rover and ahead of the Alabama-built Mercedes-Benz GLS.

HYUNDAI SANTA CRUZ

The Alabama-built Hyundai Santa Cruz finished second in the Midsize Pickup second to the best-selling Toyota Tacoma, which is imported from Mexico.

NISSAN TITAN

The Nissan Titan is riding off into the sunset as the top Large Light Duty Pickup, beating the Ram 1500 and GMC Sierra. The Mississippi-made full-size model is scheduled to be discontinued this year.

FORD F-SERIES SUPER DUTY

The Ford F-Series Super Duty is currently built in Kentucky and Ohio, but it sells so well that Ford is expanding production to Canada in 2026. For now, it’s the top-ranked Large Heavy Duty Pickup ahead of its rivals the Chevrolet Silverado HD and Ram 2500/3500.