Along with Genesis being the overall highest ranked brand for the first time, J.D. Power’s latest U.S. Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) study has also seen the largest ever year-over-year consumer satisfaction improvement this year.

As for what is responsible for a sizable increase in overall satisfaction from 2017, J.D. power points to how the mass-market brands have continued adding more content to vehicle’s that satisfy drivers.

“Vehicles in the mass market segment are being loaded with more content than in the past, which accounts for much of the improvement,” the company said in a news release.

On a 1,000-point scale, the industry average APEAL score is now 820 points, which is a 10-point jump from a score of 810 just last year.

Moreover, mass-market brands have also inched closer to scores received by luxury automakers.

The gap that exists between the two segments has dropped to just 37 points — a historic low. At 814, the average APEAL score for the mass market segment has spiked up 10 points since 2017. And the luxury segment has improved with 6 points gained this year for an APEAL score of 851.

“The automotive industry is performing exceptionally well, with manufacturers making record-breaking improvements year over year,” said J.D. Power’s global automotive vice president Dave Sargent. “It’s a great time to buy a new car or truck.

“There are a lot of high-quality, appealing vehicles in every segment of the market and shoppers don't have to spend a fortune to get one,” Sargent said.

This year, not only is there higher scores in all 10 of the APEAL study’s vehicle evaluation categories, of the 31 brands the APEAL study took a look at, a total of 23 have made gains in their performance since last year’s results.

APEAL vehicle evaluation categories include safety, engine/transmission, driving dynamics, audio/communication/entertainment/navigation, heating, ventilation and air conditioning, exterior, interior, storage and space and fuel economy.

The driving dynamics category has improved the most with 12 points added this year.

Meanwhile, with an APEAL score of 884, the Genesis brand outpaces all others for what consumers determined to be the most satisfying overall brand. Following just behind the Korean luxury automaker in second, third, fourth and fifth place are brands: Porsche (883), BMW (863), Lincoln (861) and Mercedes-Benz (858).

Meanwhile, the automaker receiving the most model-level awards is Ford Motor Co. 

Along with the Ford Expedition, the American brands F-150, Mustang and Lincoln Continental models each earned a segment-level model APEAL award. And with three model-level awards each, General Motors, Volkswagen AG and BMW AG follow closely behind Ford.

Additionally, with the highest score for a model recorded since 2013, the Lincoln Navigator has the highest overall APEAL score (915) of any model this year.

The APEAL measures vehicle owner emotional attachment and level of excitement across 77 attributes it uses to calculate an overall APEAL index score. Between November and February, J.D. Powers said that it gathered responses from almost 68,000 purchasers and lessees of new 2018 model-year vehicles after 90 days of ownership for the study.