May 19, 2009 TUSTIN, Calif. - Honoring the brands that have received the most positive feedback from customers, AutoPacific released the results of its 2009 Vehicle Satisfaction Awards on Tuesday. 

Taking top honors with the Highest Satisfaction Brand score for the second straight year was Cadillac. Meanwhile, Hyundai earned the 2009 Rising Star award, as its customer satisfaction ranking moved up 11 spots. 

Andrew Difeo, Internet Sales Manager at Hyundai of St. Augustine commented “This is great news for Hyundai owners.  The quality of Hyundai cars is at an all time high and in Florida, we have seen our market share rise because of the total Hyundai experience: price, quality, service and support.”

To determine the winners, AutoPacific measures consumers’ satisfaction with their ownership experience across 48 categories. 

“These are difficult times, with news of automaker bankruptcies, companies restructuring and dealer closures a daily occurrence,” shared George Peterson, president of AutoPacific. 

“Clearly, the dynamics surrounding the Vehicle Satisfaction Award in 2009 are far different from anything we’ve seen in many years,” he added. “Winners needed to overachieve to earn their awards.” 

“Vehicles that score highest in the Vehicle Satisfaction Awards hit the mark with their buyers by delivering value and satisfaction across a wide range of attributes,” Peterson continued.

Awards were also given out across 23 vehicle segments. Scoring highest among all models (cars or trucks) was the Lexus LS, which scored 99 points above the industry average. Meanwhile, the top scoring truck/SUV was the Cadillac Escalade. 

Winning six categories, Toyota took home the most segment awards of any OEM (three Toyota, two Lexus, one Scion), while Ford was second with four (three Ford, one Lincoln). 

Hyundai/Kia took three (two Hyundai, one Kia), while Chrysler (Dodge, Jeep) and General Motors (Cadillac, Chevrolet) earned two each. 

Chrysler, in particular, was honored for the Dodge Ram (Large Pickup) and Jeep Liberty (Midsize Sport Utility). 

“The opinions of our owners are what really matter, so this is a great win for our all-new Dodge Ram and Jeep Liberty,” stated Doug Betts, vice president and chief customer officer for Chrysler. “This award confirms that we are making significant changes and improvements in vehicle quality that are being recognized by our customers.” 

Continuing on, Honda, Land Rover, Mitsubishi, Porsche and Volkswagen were each represented in one segment. 

“In a year that promises to be the toughest in more than a decade, car buyers are being especially prudent, and the data we’ve analyzed for the Vehicle Satisfaction Award will help this year’s customers make wise purchase decisions,” Peterson stated.

“We’ve found that more than 25 percent of respondents are positively influenced by awards like the VSA when deciding on a car and this trend will certainly continue given the economy,” he added. 

The complete list of VSA winners is as follows:  

Highest Satisfaction Brand: Cadillac 

2009 Rising Star: Hyundai 

Passenger Cars

-Premium Luxury Car: Lexus LS

-Aspirational Luxury Car: Hyundai Genesis

-Luxury Large Car: Lincoln Town Car

-Luxury Midsize Car: Lexus ES

-Premium Midsize Car: Hyundai Sonata

-Midsize Car: Ford Fusion

-Image Compact Car: Toyota Prius

-Compact Car: Mitsubishi Lancer

-Economy Car: Honda Fit

-Sports Car: Porsche 911

-Sporty Car: Scion tC 

Light Trucks

-Large Pickup: Dodge Ram 1500

-Compact Pickup: Ford Explorer Sport Trac

-Luxury Sport Utility: Cadillac Escalade

-Large Sport Utility: Chevrolet Tahoe

-Premium Midsize Sport Utility: Ford Explorer

-Midsize Sport Utility: Jeep Liberty

-Luxury Crossover SUV: Land Rover LR2

-Large Crossover SUV: Mazda CX-9

-Premium Midsize Crossover SUV: Toyota Venza

-Midsize Crossover SUV: Volkswagen Tiguan

-Compact Crossover SUV: Kia Sportage

-Minivan: Toyota Sienna

For more information, visit www.autopacific.com.

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