2014 Dodge Challenger, Charger, Dart Honored for APEAL

2014 Dodge Challenger RT ・ Photo by Megan Green

While much of the world is waiting for the 2015 Hellcat to start prowling the streets, let's take a moment to honor the 2014 Dodge Challenger, too. After all, the current Challenger, which led the "Sporty Car" segment in June's 2014 J.D. Power Initial Quality Study (IQS), just did the same in Power's more recent Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) report. The latter is sort of the flipside of the former, with the IQS focused on things that go wrong with a vehicle during the first 90 days of ownership, and the APEAL study looking to what drivers particularly enjoy during that time.

Also impressive: Including the awards for the 2014 Dodge Challenger, J.D. Power has now recognized the brand's muscle-car coupe for in-segment victories in three of the past four APEAL rankings and in two of the past four IQS honor rolls.

Then, joining the 2014 Dodge Challenger among this year's APEAL award recipients were both its bigger muscle-car sibling, the Dodge Charger, as well as the brand's next-gen compact, the Dodge Dart. For the Charger, it was a fourth straight APEAL win in the "Large Car" segment, with the Dart making its APEAL debut in the exceedingly competitive "Compact Car" category—where it beat out the usual suspects from Toyota, Ford, Honda, Nissan and Chevy.

With three segment leaders, Dodge also tied Porsche as the brands with the most individual APEAL winners this year.

“These three APEAL awards, based on customer feedback, are a great way to celebrate Dodge’s 100 year anniversary and Chrysler Group’s commitment to continually deliver exciting, high quality vehicles,” said Doug Betts, senior vice president for Quality at Chrysler Group LLC. “A customer’s positive experiences with good quality lead to greater satisfaction, loyalty and the likelihood an owner will recommend their vehicle to friends and family. Personal recommendations are the most powerful type.”

As the 2015 model year approaches, starting prices for Dodge's current crop of APEAL winners is as follows:

• 2014 Dodge Dart—$16,495
• 2014 Dodge Challenger—$26,495
• 2014 Dodge Charger—$26,995