Tag: North American International Auto Show

The autonomous car puts a challenge on screenwriters to cope with the impact of more technologically advanced vehicles. Will the bad guys find ways to win? Or will autonomy yield a crime free utopia where the bad guys cannot escape using "modern" transportation and smart streets?

2017 Jeep Renegade Deserthawk

Having a new Jeep Renegade Trailhawk over the long July 4th weekend, I took it to Costco for the quarterly bird seed, cat food replenishment.  At first I was wondering if the Renegade was up to the task.  Does a small crossover SUV have the capacity to take the load?

There were fourteen bags of bird seed and two of cat food.  Plus the package of 30 rolls of toilet paper.  Would they fit?  Plus, would they fit with the other stuff we bought?  Removing the tonneau cover over the cargo area and folding the rear seats were required to fit in the load.  There was room to spare.  Probably could have doubled the number of bird seed and cat food bags.

The all new VW Tiguan gives Volkswagen a much needed competitor in the hot compact crossover SUV market. Competing with the likes of the Honda CR-V, Nissan Rogue, Toyota RAV4 and Ford Escape, Tiguan has to be outstanding to win in the consideration set including those vehicles. Is it good enough?

Every two months, AutoPacific surveys drivers to determine the fuel price impact on their lives, their driving styles and their consideration for vehicle types in the future.  The fuel price impact today is dramatically different from the surprise price spike to $4.15 per gallon in June 2008.  Drivers reacted dramatically.  They abandoned large SUVs and bought high fuel economy small cars and hybrids instead.  Hybrid consideration peaked at 29% in September 2008.

Drivers took huge financial losses getting rid of their gas guzzlers, but they quickly rued that decision.  By December 2008 the price of gasoline had dropped to $1.67 per gallon.  (The value of $1.67 in 2008 is $1.94 in today’s dollars).  This began a roller coaster ride of gas prices.  By January 2011, gas prices had risen to over $3 per gallon and stayed there until December 2014.  Today, the national price of a gallon of gasoline is about $2.50.

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The new Genesis G90 sets a new record for satisfaction results in AutoPacific's New Vehicle Satisfaction research. The results are distributed across the industry with American brands providing the most satisfying trucks and SUVs. Asian brands dominate car satisfaction results.

AutoPacific Announces 2017 Vehicle Satisfaction Awards

Lincoln Most Satisfying Premium Brand; GMC Most Satisfying Popular Brand

TUSTIN, Calif. (June 7, 2017) – AutoPacific today announced its 21st 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 54,000 owners of new 2016 and 2017 cars and light trucks.

“This is the 21st anniversary of AutoPacific identifying the most satisfying vehicles and providing consumers a way to streamline their search for their perfect vehicle,” says AutoPacific president George Peterson. AutoPacific’s Vehicle Satisfaction Awards objectively measure owner satisfaction with 49 separate attributes ranging from interior comfort and styling to fuel economy and performance. “VSAs look at the big picture, which includes owners’ experiences with [...]

2017 Honda Civic Si brings enthusiast-oriented driving to the Honda Civic small car lineup. Exterior, interior, powertrain and chassis upgrades differentiate the Honda Civic Si from the rest of the Civic lineup.

The all new 2018 Honda Odyssey edges Chrysler Pacifica out as best minivan. Cannot avoid minivan image, but that is OK with such a competent and well done family vehicle.

Mid-Cycle Freshening of the 2018 Acura TLX substantially improves the appearance of the car and improves its competitiveness. Under the skin, TLX is basically the same, but the latest driver assistance safety features have been added.

The VW Atlas crossover enter the American SUV market at a time the market is booming. It is a competent XSUV going up against some serious heavyweights like the Ford Explorer and Honda Pilot.