America has a love affair with the pickup truck. It boggles the mind of foreigners how we could continue to love these huge hunks of metal with solid axles and thirsty V8 engines. With each calendar year, pickup trucks continue to get more comfortable, capable, and efficient. The 2014 Silverado makes a huge leap over the previous generation and has left me pleasantly surprised at what GM has done to make their bread and butter so much tastier.
Back in 2008 I had an Impala as a rental for three weeks. The mouse fur fabric of the seats combined with the awful instrument panel and wheezing powertrain left a lasting impression with me. In 2008, it was clear that the Impala was developed during a dark time at GM where profits came before product. Can GM shake off that awful stigma Impala has had for years?
The GMC Terrain is one amazing vehicle. Why, you might ask? GM can’t seem to make enough of them. Even as the Terrain ages, it is still selling incredibly well. It was really the first vehicle where GM made the first good effort at interior design with a well-crafted centerstack, tons of 2nd row legroom, and features galore. Does slapping the Denali name on the Terrain make it the ‘must have’ in the Terrain lineup? Not exactly.
The all new 2013 Honda Accord is Honda’s most important vehicle EVER. That’s right, EVER! It comes after lackluster reviews of the latest cost-reduced mind-numbing Civic. It enters the mid-size car product segment where the oldest high volume competitor was launched as a 2011 model in early 2010 (Hyundai Sonata) and each new model is more impressive than the one that came before it… Toyota Camry, Kia Optima, Volkswagen Passat, Nissan Altima, the coming-soon Ford Fusion, Chevrolet Malibu and next year’s Mazda6. Each new mid-size entry is better, more finessed, more technologically capable and available with a wider range of features than ever before. The question is “Did Honda bring their ‘A Game’ to the 2013 Accord, or is it another misstep like the Civic?”
Bring their “A Game”? Wow, did they! This Accord is a take-no-prisoners attempt by Honda to reclaim leadership in the premium mid-size car class. With this car, Honda appears to have its MOJO back!
AutoPacific’s Ideal Vehicle Award (IVA) recognizes the vehicle that best hits the target its buyers demand. Winning an IVA shows the product planners, engineers and designers of the manufacturer understand what their target customers want and have created the vehicle to best meet their demands.
Corvette Edges Jaguar XK for IVA Win: The 2012 Chevrolet Corvette comes closest to the ideal of any Sports Car. The Corvette edges out the second place Jaguar XK to win in the sports car class. (Porsche Boxster/Cayman and 911 scored higher in IVA calculations, but their sample sizes were to small to qualify to be included in the final ratings). Having eighty-percent or more of owners rating a characteristic ideal is outstanding. Achieving a score of ninety-percent is even more impressive. Ninety-percent or more of Corvette owners rate its exterior size, passenger roominess and ride and handling ideal. Eighty-percent or more of Corvette owners find these additional characteristics ideal: driver’s seat visibility, driver’s seat comfort and tires.
The Chevrolet Corvette also was best in class in AutoPacific’s 2012 Vehicle Satisfaction Award research.
A Few Shortfalls – Infotainment and Power and Ingress/Egress: A sports car is all about style, speed and handling and not about practicality. About 43% of Corvette owners want better infotainment technology. This may be buyer’s remorse if they did not get a package with the navigation system and Bose audio. About 36% of Corvette owners want more power and acceleration than they have now. With a base car with 430HP and 4.2 seconds zero to sixty, they should be satisfied, but sports car owners always seem to want more. Corvette is extremely low to the ground leading 34% of owners to want the car to be easier to get into and out of. About 26% want better interior storage than they presently have. About 24% of Corvette owners want better interior lighting than now. About 21% would like more daring exterior styling for an already expressively styled car. Maybe they are thinking of Ferrari or Lamborghini.
You can find an Autobytel review of this IVA award winner at http://www.autobytel.com/auto-news/awards/consumer-s-ideal-cars-revealed-in-2012-iva-awards-112116/
For a complete summary of all AutoPacific 2012 Ideal Vehicle Award results contact karin.turner@vehiclevoice.com and title your email “IVA Results”. A copy of the results will be emailed to you within 48-hours.
AutoPacific’s Ideal Vehicle Award (IVA) recognizes the vehicle that best hits the target its buyers demand. Winning an IVA shows the product planners, engineers and designers of the manufacturer understand what their target customers want and have created the vehicle to best meet their demands.
Yukon XL Edges Platform-Mate Chevrolet Suburban for IVA Win: The 2012 GMC Yukon XL comes closest to the ideal of any Large SUV. The Yukon XL edges out the second place Chevrolet Suburban by 11 rating points to win in its class. Having eighty-percent or more of owners rating a characteristic ideal is outstanding. Achieving a score of ninety-percent is even more impressive. Ninety-percent or more of Yukon XL owners rate its exterior size, driver’s seat comfort and ride and handling ideal. Eighty-percent or more of Yukon XL owners find these additional characteristics ideal: interior lighting, driver’s seat visibility, passenger roominess, cargo space, wheels, ease of getting in and out and safety ratings.
The Smaller GMC Yukon won AutoPacific’s 2012 Vehicle Satisfaction Award.
A Few Shortfalls – But None Critical. About 29% of Yukon XL owners want more interior storage compartments. About 26% want larger tires than now. About 20% of Yukon XL owners want better power and acceleration. About 19% want more daring exterior styling than now. About 17% want better infotainment technology while 9% want their technology to be easier to use.
You can find an Autobytel review of this IVA award winner at http://www.autobytel.com/auto-news/awards/ideal-suvs-pickups-rated-by-owners-in-2012-iva-awards-112117/
For a complete summary of all AutoPacific 2012 Ideal Vehicle Award results contact karin.turner@vehiclevoice.com and title your email “IVA Results”. A copy of the results will be emailed to you within 48-hours.
AutoPacific’s Ideal Vehicle Award (IVA) recognizes the vehicle that best hits the target its buyers demand. Winning an IVA shows the product planners, engineers and designers of the manufacturer understood what their target customers want and have made the vehicle to meet their demands.
The 2012 Ford Flex comes closest to the ideal of any Large Crossover SUV scoring a close win over the Chevrolet Traverse. Eighty-percent or more of Flex owners find these characteristics ideal: exterior size, exterior styling, passenger roominess, seat comfort, ride and handling, tires and wheels, ease of getting in and out and safety features.
EcoBoost Gives Flex a Substantial Performance Advantage, but Only 15% of Flex Owners Bought It: About 25% of Flex V6 owners want more power and acceleration, but only 6% who opted for the 355HP EcoBoost 3.5L V6 want more. Clearly, EcoBoost provides surprising power without a fuel economy disadvantage. About 11% of all Flex owners would give up power and acceleration for better fuel economy. So, when it comes to Flex, performance and fuel economy, twice as many owners would take more power and acceleration than would trade off power for fuel economy.
More/Better Technology Wanted: The 2012 Flex is available with SYNC and SYNC with navigation, but not Ford’s new MyFord Touch system. About a quarter of Flex owners want more/better technology than their vehicle has now.
You can find an Autobytel review of this IVA award winner at http://www.autobytel.com/auto-news/awards/ideal-suvs-pickups-rated-by-owners-in-2012-iva-awards-112117/
For a complete summary of all AutoPacific 2012 Ideal Vehicle Award results contact karin.turner@vehiclevoice.com and title your email “IVA Results”. A copy of the results will be emailed to you within 48-hours.
Best In Class 2012 Sports Car: Chevrolet Corvette
2012 Chevrolet Corvette Wins AutoPacific Vehicle Satisfaction Award
Corvette owners rate the car Best In Class without giving the car top satisfaction ratings in any category. This can sometimes, but rarely, happen in AutoPacific’s Vehicle Satisfaction Award research. It means that Corvette owners consider many characteristics more important than the owners of competing sports cars and when combined with their satisfaction with those characteristics, Corvette’s overall score is the highest. With a possible high score of 5.0 rating points, a rating of 4.6 or higher can be considered very good. Corvette owners satisfaction was 4.6 or higher in: Overall Satisfaction, Exterior Size, Vehicle’s Reputation, Brand’s Reputation, Exterior Color, Exterior Styling, Power and Acceleration, Braking, Handling, Fun to Drive, Overall Quality, and Advanced Powertrain Technology. Corvette owners value the dynamic qualities of America’s premier sports car and rate its styling near the top of its class.
