When it comes to being happy with your new car, owners of Kia’s new luxury car are the happiest of all, a new survey finds.
Kia scored highest when it came to a single model, but didn’t win the most categories, finds the 19th annual Vehicle Satisfaction Awards. It came in second, with four, behind General Motors, with five. Nissan had three.
“Competition is fierce and no one automaker dominates the results,” says George Peterson, president of AutoPacific.
The new survey buttresses another closely watched index in the auto industry, J.D. Power’s Initial Quality Study, which also showed big gains by South Korean automakers Kia and corporate cousin, Hyundai.
“Kia and Hyundai are continually improving owner satisfaction in key areas like reliability and quality, yet are also hitting the mark with safety, braking, handling, styling and seat comfort, not to mention a very satisfying warranty program,” Peterson says.
All told, the survey considered 66,000 responses involving 274 models from 33 brands for the 2015.
Among brands, big gains were seen by Jaguar, which moved up 11 positions, and Volkswagen, which moved up 10.
Kia’s K900 ranked top in AutoPacific’s survey of vehicle satisfaction
The list:
HIGHEST SATISFACTION PREMIUM BRAND: Tesla
HIGHEST SATISFACTION POPULAR BRAND: GMC
Luxury Car
Kia K900
Aspirational Luxury Car
Volvo S60
Luxury Mid-Size Car
Lexus ES
Large Car
Kia Cadenza
Mid-Size Car
Hyundai Sonata
Premium Compact Car
Lexus CT 200h
Compact Car
Kia Soul (tie), Volkswagen Jetta, Volkswagen Beetle
Economy Car
Honda Fit
Sports Car
Chevrolet Corvette
Sporty Car
Dodge Challenger
Heavy Duty Pickup
Ford F-Series Super Duty
Light Duty Pickup
Ford F-150
Compact Pickup
Kia Sportage
Luxury SUV
Infiniti QX80
Large SUV
Chevrolet Tahoe
Mid-Size SUV
Jeep Grand Cherokee
Premium Luxury Crossover SUV
BMW X5 (tie), Mercedes-Benz ML
Mid-Size Crossover SUV
Honda CR-V
Compact Crossover SUV
Kia Sportage
Minivan
Nissan Quest