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

The results of AutoPacific’s 22^nd annual Vehicle Satisfaction Awards (VSAs) identify 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 Vehicle Satisfaction Award for Luxury Car for the second year in a row.

Nissan Claims Most Brand Wins

Five Nissan vehicles win Vehicle Satisfaction Awards 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^thwin since its 2015 redesign and the Maxima has its 3^rdwin 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 (2^ndyear)
• Aspirational Luxury Car:  Lexus IS
• Luxury Mid-Size Car:  Nissan Maxima (3^rdyear)
• Large Car:  Dodge Charger
• Mid-Size Car:  Hyundai Sonata
• Premium Compact Car:  Audi A3
• Compact Car:  Hyundai Elantra
• Mainstream EV Car:  Nissan LEAF
• Economy Car:  Hyundai Accent
• Sports Car:  Nissan 370Z
• Sporty Car:  Dodge Challenger (2^ndyear)

Light Trucks

• Light Duty Pickup:  Nissan Titan (2^ndyear)
• Heavy Duty Pickup:  GMC Sierra HD
• Mid-Size Pickup:  Honda Ridgeline (2^ndyear)
• Luxury SUV:  Infiniti QX80
• Large SUV:  Toyota Sequoia
• Mid-Size SUV:Toyota 4Runner (tie)
• Mid-Size SUV:  Jeep Grand Cherokee (tie; 2^ndyear)
• Premium Luxury XSUV:  Mercedes-Benz GLS
• Luxury XSUV:Infiniti QX60
• Large XSUV:  Chevrolet Traverse
• Premium Mid-Size XSUV:  Nissan Murano (4^thyear)
• Mid-Size XSUV:  Honda CR-V
• Compact XSUV:  Toyota C-HR
• Minivan: Honda Odyssey (tie)
• Minivan:  Toyota Sienna (tie)