2010 Suzuki Kizashi, Lincoln MKT Top Satisfaction Ratings
The annual vehicle satisfaction study from California-based market-research firm AutoPacific places two new-for-2010 models at the top: the 2010 Suzuki Kizashi and the 2010 Lincoln MKT.
The Kizashi was the highest-rated vehicle overall in the 14th Annual Vehicle Satisfaction Awards.
"This is an amazing win for Suzuki," said George Peterson, AutoPacific's president, in a release. "The Kizashi is Suzuki's most important vehicle, and this performance in our research is exceptional."
This is indeed good news for Suzuki, as the brand has been facing dealership service issues in recent years. In the latest J.D. Power Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI), an annual measure of dealer service performance over three years of ownership, the automaker ranked at the bottom, among all brands. But Suzuki has made gains in Power's Sales Satisfaction Index (SSI) and now ranks mid-pack—an indicator that the automaker has made some substantial changes at the dealership level.
The 2010 Lincoln MKT was the highest-rated vehicle among trucks and SUVs in AutoPacific's annual satisfaction measure.
Vehicles are rated in 48 different categories that pertain to various areas of the ownership experience, and overall results are based on the research firm's polling of more than 42,000 new-vehicle owners during the first few months of ownership.
AutoPacific divides vehicles into a total of 27 different vehicle segments—such as 'luxury mid-size car,' or 'premium mid-size crossover SUV'—and a winner was named for each of these. Ford had the most segment winners, followed by Toyota, GM, Honda, and Nissan.
Other new-for-2010 models that ranked at the top of their segments included the Chevrolet Camaro, Mercury Milan Hybrid, Volkswagen GTI, and Toyota 4Runner.
On a brand basis, Buick was the popular brand with the highest satisfaction while Cadillac came out on top among premium brands.
This story originally appeared at The Car Connection
More Than Half Think Chrysler And GM Should Have Been Allowed To Fail
Think that the government shouldn't be in the auto business? You're not alone.
We already knew that, but thanks to a survey from Tustin, California research and analysis firm AutoPacific, we can put a number to it: 81 percent agreed that the faster the government gets out of the auto business, the better, and more than half think that GM (54 percent) and Chrysler (58 percent) should have been allowed to fail.
The results are very fresh; they're from an online survey of 900 U.S. consumers, conducted by the firm after General Motors' bankruptcy announcement last week.
Consumers are also puzzlingly pessimistic about whether government involvement will produce cleaner or even more fuel-efficient cars. Forty-eight percent disagree that having the government in charge of GM and Chrysler will bring more fuel-efficient vehicles, while 54 percent disagree that it will result in cleaner vehicles.
Yet another figure from the survey that's not so surprising is that 66 percent disagree that having the government in charge of Chrysler and GM will result in cars and trucks Americans want to buy.
While Americans are pessimistic about the feds overseeing part of the auto industry, they're also extremely skeptical of the Fiat-Chrysler deal, with more than 47 percent believing that Fiat cars won't sell well in the U.S. A surprising 43 percent think that, no matter what happens with the deal, Chrysler will fail within five years, and only 13 percent think that Fiat's cars will save Chysler. "American consumers do not see Fiat as Chrysler's white knight," said the firm in a release accompanying the results.
"Clearly Americans aren't thrilled with government involvement in the U.S. auto companies," said George Peterson, AutoPacific's president. "People believe the government should get out of the auto business as soon as possible."
This story originally appeared at The Car Connection
