Author Archive: George Peterson

Hyundai's Sonata won the Premium Mid-Size Car Vehicle Satisfaction Award this year from AutoPacific.

Lexus ES takes top honors in the Luxury Mid-Size Car segment in AutoPacific's annual Vehicle Satisfaction Awards

Lexus ES takes top honors in the Luxury Mid-Size Car segment in AutoPacific's annual Vehicle Satisfaction Awards

Lincoln's Town Car satisfies its owners better than any other 2009 Large Car, according the AutoPacific's 2009 survey results.

Hyundai Genesis wins another award. This time, AutoPacific's 2009 Vehicle Satisfaction Award.

Cadillac wins Highest Satisfaction marks of all brands in AutoPacific's 2009 survey.

Lexus LS takes home another AutoPacific Vehicle Satisfaction Award

We all know Lexus products as being paragons of quality and refinement, but many younger enthusiast drivers have long passed over the brand in favor of established performance names like BMW and Audi. No surprise there; Lexus products tend to be amazingly refined and quiet, providing a driving experience akin to manning a hyperbaric chamber. Given Lexus’ 20 past years of wresting away market share from the Germans and the fact that they’ve been the best-selling luxury brand in the US for years, we’d have to say they’ve got the American luxury buyer licked. The majority of American luxury buyers really do want to waft along in utter silence, and no one does that better than Lexus.
The coveted entry luxury buyer (who represents a long-term opportunity to retain and move up through the brand), however, is younger and [...]

I approached the 2010 Hyundai Genesis Coupe with great interest. Yeah, sure, it’s got all the things to make a car enthusiast swoon: great styling, rear wheel drive, and lots of power. But what made the car of particular interest to me was the fact that I had a small hand in the development of the car. I wanted to see how the finished product had turned out.
Yup, not that long ago I used to work for Hyundai as a product planning manager, and I watched the car’s development as it progressed from simple sketches to computer generated 3D images to full-size clay models. I even got to drive early prototypes of the car over two years ago on Hyundai’s test track in Namyang, Korea.

AutoPacific has a new category in its Vehicle Satisfaction Awards - the Rising Star. This is the brand that has moved upwards the most in its rankings in the VSA results. Hyundai climbed eleven positions to win the award in this new category.