Category: Chevrolet

AutoPacific's Ideal Vehicle Awards for 2o13 are given to brands and vehicles that best meet the expectations of their buyers. The person driving the car does not want it to be bigger or more powerful or have better info/entertainment systems. Based on the results of over 52,000 respondents, the IVAs are owner-based awards that can serve to give car and truck buyers an idea of how well manufacturers have designed vehicles with their customers in mind.

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!

Chevrolet Corvette adds winning AutoPacific's 2012 Ideal Vehicle Award to its earlier win of AutoPacific's Vehicle Satisfaction Award. Winning both awards is an impressive accomplishment.

GMC Yukon XL edges out platform-mate Chevrolet Suburban to win AutoPacific's Ideal Vehicle Award for Large SUVs. Owners of the Smaller GMC Yukon rewarded Yukon with AutoPacific's Vehicle Satisfaction Award eariler.

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.

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.

Owners of the all-new Chevrolet Sonic give the car top ratings in twelve of forty-eight attributes in AutoPacific’s 2012 Vehicle Satisfaction Award research.

Owners of the 2012 Chevrolet Traverse gave the Large SUV a photo-finish win over the Ford Flex while giving the Traverse top ratings in eighteen of forty-eight categories in AutoPacific’s 2012 Vehicle Satisfaction Award research.

Over the years, General Motors has often tried to be a trailblazer (no pun intended) in new vehicle design and development. Many of these vehicles failed, but we believe GM deserves a tremendous amount of credit for trying where other companies did not have the creative thought or resources to make a "segment breaking" product.

Traditionally, the mid-size car class has had relatively bland styling. That changed with the launch of the 2011 Sonata in early 2010 where over half of the buyers indicated that exterior styling was extremely important in their selection of the car. Sonata's swoopy styling broke the mid-size car mold. The 2011 Kia Optima that followed the Sonata is strikingly handsome in its own EuroKorean way. Toyota stayed very conservative with its new 2012 entry and Honda is rumored to have continued its very conservative streak with the next generation Accord coming this fall. The 2013 Ford Fusion is another game changer in the mold of Sonata and Optima, but even with Fusion's advanced styling, Altima may have pushed the envelope the farthest.