Most Satisfying Auto Brands For 2016 – Tesla on Top
- June 10, 2016
- Acura, BMW, Cadillac, Infiniti, More Categories...
- Posted by George Peterson
- Comments Off on Most Satisfying Auto Brands For 2016 – Tesla on Top
This article was first published on Forbes.com on June 9, 2016
Tesla Tops Auto Brand Satisfaction for Second Year in a Row Tesla owners are the most satisfied overall among all car and light truck owners according to the results of AutoPacific‘s 2016 Vehicle Satisfaction Award research. The annual study includes over 65,000 respondents for 2016 and covers 273 vehicles sold in the United States.
Tesla owners are almost unanimous in agreeing the Tesla is fun to drive, powerful, eco-friendly, upscale, safe, distinctive and expensive. These are not people who are really looking for the greenest car around, they want a car that makes a statement and can tear away from almost every other car when the light turns green. The fact that Tesla has been the top-ranking brand in AutoPacific’s research two years in a row is testament not only to how much Tesla buyers like their product, but at how well the brand has been positioned. Of course, Tesla today is a one-car brand and that one car has really resonated with its owners. Things may be different when data for the Model X and Model 3 are included in the years to come.
Other luxury brands trail Tesla. Cadillac, Lexus and Lincoln are next in satisfaction, then comes a surprise.
Kia Top Ranked Popular Brand Kia is ranked fifth overall and is the top popular brand in the research. This is quite a feat for a Korean brand that was just an asterisk fifteen years ago. Clearly, Kia products are capable of competing with the best. The Kia Optima mid-size sedan was third overall behind the Cadillac Escalade Luxury SUV and the Mercedes S-Class Luxury Car. These cost about three times what the Optima would cost. Kia owners see their vehicles as safe, fun to drive, comforting, a good value from a trusted brand. While these attributes are above the results for the industry as a whole, they bear little resemblance to the magnitude of the Tesla results.
