AutoPacific Announces 2018 Vehicle Satisfaction Awards: Genesis Most Satisfying Premium Brand; Nissan Earns Most Wins; Top Score Goes to Chevrolet Traverse

NORTH TUSTIN, Calif., June 19, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- AutoPacific today announced its 22(nd) annual Vehicle Satisfaction Awards (VSAs), identifying the most satisfying vehicles in the market. An industry benchmark for measuring how satisfied an owner is with his/her new vehicle, VSAs are based on survey responses from over 58,000 owners of new 2017 and 2018 cars and light trucks.

"VSAs provide consumers with insight into which vehicles are giving owners a satisfying ownership experience," says AutoPacific president George Peterson. AutoPacific's Vehicle Satisfaction Awards objectively measure owner satisfaction with 40 separate attributes ranging from seating comfort and interior quality to driving performance. "AutoPacific VSAs are unique in their inclusion of importance in the calculations," explains Peterson. "Not only do we measure owner satisfaction, but we also measure how important each attribute was to owners in their shopping process, resulting in a satisfaction score representative of demanding owners."

Trucks Most Satisfying

Reflecting the booming sales of trucks in the USA, trucks - pickups, sport utility vehicles and minivans - are much more satisfying than cars. SUVs, both traditional and crossovers, are the most satisfying truck categories.

Genesis Reaches Top

Luxury brand Genesis, in its second year in the market, wins top luxury brand, edging out second place Lexus and achieving the highest brand satisfaction score to date. "In just two years, Genesis has reached a level of owner satisfaction unattained by more established luxury brands," says Peterson. In addition to the most satisfying luxury brand, Genesis G90 wins the VSA for Luxury Car for the second year in a row.

Nissan Claims Most Brand Wins

Five Nissan vehicles win VSAs for their respective segments: the Nissan Titan, Murano, Maxima, LEAF and 370Z. "Not only does Nissan have the most brand wins for the second year in a row, the Maxima and Murano have been unbeatable since their redesigns were introduced to the market," says Peterson. The Murano crossover has its 4(th) win since its 2015 redesign and the Maxima has its 3(rd) win since its 2016 redesign. New for 2018, this is the first win for the LEAF, winning in the growing Mainstream EV segment, the second win for the Titan and the first win for the 370Z. Two Infiniti crossovers, the QX80 and QX60, are also 2018 VSA winners.

Five All-New or Redesigned Vehicles Top Their Segment

Of the twenty-six winning vehicles, five were redesigned for the 2018 model year, including the top-scoring Chevrolet Traverse, which greatly exceeds the score of its nearest competitor, Toyota C-HR, a new entry in a highly competitive and growing segment, and Nissan LEAF, a clear winner over competing mainstream EVs. Also winning with their new designs are the all-new Honda Odyssey and Hyundai Accent. "The success of redesigned vehicles speaks to the efforts of product planners and designers who spend years researching and designing in the hopes of hitting the mark with consumers," says Peterson.

American and Korean Brands Share Most Satisfying Popular Brand Title

GMC is the most satisfying popular brand for the second year in a row, but this year it shares its title with Hyundai and Ram. "Having two strong American truck brands and a Korean brand known for its cars is pretty incredible," says Peterson. Although GMC has won several times, it is the first brand win for Ram and Hyundai.

2018 VEHICLE SATISFACTION AWARD WINNERS

Most Satisfying Vehicle Overall: Chevrolet Traverse
Highest Satisfaction Premium Brand: Genesis
Highest Satisfaction Popular Brand: 3-way tie: GMC, Hyundai, Ram

    PASSENGER CARS:
    ---------------

    Luxury Car                        Genesis G90 (2nd year)
    Aspirational Luxury Car
    Luxury Mid-Size Car               Lexus IS

    Large Car                         Nissan Maxima (3rd year)

    Mid-Size Car                      Dodge Charger
    Premium Compact Car
    Compact Car                       Hyundai Sonata

    Mainstream EV Car                 Audi A3
    Economy Car
    Sports Car                        Hyundai Elantra

    Sporty Car                        Nissan LEAF

                                      Hyundai Accent

                                      Nissan 370Z

                                      Dodge Challenger (2nd year)


    LIGHT TRUCKS:
    -------------

    Light Duty Pickup                 Nissan Titan (2nd year)

    Heavy Duty Pickup                 GMC Sierra HD

    Mid-Size Pickup                   Honda Ridgeline (2nd year)
    Luxury SUV
                                      Infiniti QX80
    Large SUV
    Mid-Size SUV                      Toyota Sequoia

    Mid-Size SUV                      Toyota 4Runner (tie)

    Premium Luxury Crossover SUV       Jeep Grand Cherokee (tie;
                                       2nd year)

    Luxury Crossover SUV              Mercedes-Benz GLS
    Large Crossover SUV
    Premium Mid-Size Crossover SUV    Infiniti QX60
    Mid-Size Crossover SUV
    Compact Crossover SUV             Chevrolet Traverse
    Minivan
                                      Nissan Murano (4th year)
    Minivan
                                      Honda CR-V

                                      Toyota C-HR

                                      Honda Odyssey  (tie)

                                      Toyota Sienna (tie)

About AutoPacific

AutoPacific is a future-oriented automotive marketing research and product-consulting firm. Every year AutoPacific publishes a wide variety of syndicated studies on the automotive industry. The firm also conducts extensive proprietary research and consulting for auto manufacturers, distributors, marketers and suppliers worldwide. Company headquarters are in North Tustin, California, with an affiliate office in the Detroit area. Additional information about AutoPacific and the Vehicle Satisfaction Awards can be found on AutoPacific's websites: www.autopacific.com and www.vehiclevoice.com.

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SOURCE AutoPacific