AutoPacific Announces 2020 Vehicle Satisfaction Awards: Hyundai and Kia Brands Tie for Most Wins

NORTH TUSTIN, Calif., Sept. 14, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- AutoPacific today announced the 2020 Vehicle Satisfaction Award (VSA) winners according to the results of its annual New Vehicle Satisfaction Survey of over 73,000 new car and light truck owners. Now in its 24^th year, the VSAs identify the most satisfying vehicles in the market.

AutoPacific's Vehicle Satisfaction Awards objectively measure owner satisfaction with 27 individual attributes ranging from driving performance to seating comfort and interior design. "AutoPacific VSAs give consumers true, unbiased insight into which vehicles are providing their owners with the most satisfying experience," says AutoPacific president George Peterson. Scores are based solely on owner input and are unique in the industry for their use of both importance and satisfaction ratings to represent a comprehensive view of the ownership experience.

This year's winners are spread across 12 manufacturers and 17 brands. Hyundai Motor Group, which includes the Hyundai, Kia and Genesis brands, leads with nine wins, followed by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles with six wins, Nissan Motor Company with three wins and Mercedes-Benz and Ford Motor Company each with two wins. The remaining manufacturers, Volkswagen, BMW, General Motors, Honda Motor Company, Subaru, Tesla, Inc. and Toyota Motor Corporation receive one win each.

Hyundai and Kia Brands Tie for Most Wins

Each with four winning vehicles, Hyundai and Kia have doubled their number of wins from last year and dominated the crossover SUVs, winning four of the five non-luxury crossover SUV segments. Three of Hyundai's four winning vehicles are new for 2020: Sonata, Santa Fe and Palisade, while Kia has two all-new winners: Soul and Telluride. Both the Hyundai Palisade and Kia Telluride are new entries in the large crossover SUV market and received top scores resulting in a tie. "The Telluride, assembled in Georgia in the USA, and the Palisade, assembled in South Korea, share their basic underpinnings. Clearly Hyundai and Kia designers and engineers solved the equation for satisfying their buyers, with both vehicles having equal scores from their customers," says Peterson.

Adding to the success of the Hyundai and Kia brands is Genesis, Hyundai Motor Group's luxury brand, with a win for the G90 in Premium Luxury Car. The G90 scored the highest of any passenger car. The G90 win brings Hyundai Motor Group's total to nine wins – the most of any manufacturer this year.

Alfa Romeo Gains Against Established Luxury Competition

Newcomer Alfa Romeo, a brand under the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) umbrella, has two winning vehicles: Giulia (Standard Luxury Car) and Stelvio (Standard Luxury XSUV). Alfa Romeo entered both the luxury car and luxury XSUV market in recent years and satisfies owners in the areas of handling and fun to drive. Owners also appreciate Giulia's front seat comfort and Stelvio's driver's seat ingress and egress. "Entering the US market alone has its challenges, but Alfa Romeo has the added challenge of taking on established luxury brands, which it has done exceptionally well through performance and styling.  Updates to the Alfas' infotainment system for 2020 was especially instrumental in their wins." says Peterson.

FCA brands Chrysler, Dodge and Ram have one win each, while Ram also gains honors as most satisfying popular brand, bringing FCA's total to six wins.

All-New Nissan Versa Debuts on Top in Subcompact Car Category

Nissan Motor Company received 3 wins, including the Armada, for the 2^nd year in a row, Rogue, and the all-new Versa winning in the subcompact car category. "Versa's redesign includes a competitive collection of standard safety equipment, a strategy that has clearly paid off as the Versa gains top ratings in its segment for safety features," says Peterson. Versa owners also give the vehicle top satisfaction ratings within its segment ratings for passenger roominess, cargo space and driver's seat comfort.

2020 VEHICLE SATISFACTION AWARD WINNERS

Most Satisfying Vehicle Overall and Top Scoring Truck: BMW X6
Most Satisfying Passenger Car:  Genesis G90
Highest Satisfaction Premium Brand: Lincoln
Highest Satisfaction Popular Brand: Ram

PASSENGER CARS:

LIGHT TRUCKS:

About AutoPacific
AutoPacific is a future-oriented automotive marketing research and product-consulting firm. Every year AutoPacific publishes a wide variety of syndicated studies on the automotive industry. The firm also conducts extensive proprietary research and consulting for auto manufacturers, distributors, marketers and suppliers worldwide. Company headquarters are in North Tustin, California, with affiliate offices in Michigan, Wisconsin and the Carolinas. Additional information about AutoPacific and the Vehicle Satisfaction Awards can be found on AutoPacific's websites: www.autopacific.com and www.vehiclevoice.com.

SOURCE AutoPacific

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