I guess Motor Week's getting a reputation for edgy choices when it comes to it's Drivers' Choice Awards.

Last year, the weekly auto program's top choice was the Honda Fit, a zippy little hatchback from the design family evocatively known as "pregnant roller skates." Edgy choices for 2008 included again holding their press conference in the last slot of the day (4:30 p.m.) -- about three inches into the finest snowstorm I've seen in years -- and draping the Best of the Year mantle on the awkward, boxy frame of the Scion xB.

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Posted by Katrina Ohlemacher at 09:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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Lincoln Top Premium Brand, Mercury Top Mainstream Brand,
Mercedes-Benz S-Class Top Vehicle, Nissan Titan Top Truck

An “ideal” is defined as an excellent or perfect example. In the annual Ideal Vehicle Awards (IVA), announced today by automotive research and consulting firm AutoPacific, owners rate their new 2007 model year cars and trucks by how closely they come to their ideal. The cars or trucks that owners would change the least are the most ideal.

The conclusion to be drawn from AutoPacific’s IVA results is that carmakers that best understand their customers create the vehicles that are ideal for their core buyers.

Ford Motor Company Wins Unprecedented Eleven IVA Awards for Brands and Vehicles

There are twenty-five segment winners and overall winners for premium brands and mainstream brands.

The top-rated premium brand overall is Lincoln, out-scoring Buick and Porsche for the most ideal premium vehicle brand honors. The top-rated mainstream brand is Mercury nudging out Hyundai for top mainstream brand results.

The top-rated vehicle (and top-rated car) is the new Mercedes-Benz S-Class, a Premium Luxury Car. The second and third top-rated cars are from Ford Motor Company – the Mercury Montego and the Ford Five Hundred, both in the Large Car category. The top-rated truck is the Nissan Titan, a Large Light-Duty Pickup, closely followed by the new Ford Edge, a Premium Mid-Size Crossover SUV.

Ford Motor Company led the industry with a total of nine segment winners. General Motors and Hyundai have four each. Ford won five sport utility vehicle categories with Expedition, Explorer, Edge, Lincoln MKX and Range Rover.

American Brands Have Most Segment Winners

Including two ties, of the twenty-five Ideal Vehicle Award (IVA) categories, American brands have twelve segment winners, European brands have six, Japanese brands have five and Korean brands have four winners.

The top-rated product segment is Large Car confirming that Americans continue to value large, comfortable cars suitable for suburban driving and longer distance highway cruising.

Winner details are shown below the fold...

Continue reading "AutoPacific Announces 2007 Ideal Vehicle Awards" »

Posted by George Peterson at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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The S-Class is the clear winner for 2007. The S-Class can claim Most Ideal Vehicle, Most Ideal Car, and Most Ideal Premium Luxury Car. The S-Class scored particularly well on such important measures as ride, handling, power and acceleration, exterior size, passenger room, ease of entry/exit, and interior lighting. Pretty impressive! In fact the only areas with a score below the segment average were technology level (too high) and wheel/tire size and appearance.

Posted by Keagan Patrick at 11:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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The Infiniti G35 sedan is all new for the 2007 model year with the coupe being carried over from the previous generation. Think of the G35 as a German sport sedan from Japan. Good size, great handling, outstanding powertrain, the G35 wins against all competition in its class. This sedan/coupe duo scored particularly well for handling, exterior styling, wheel and tire size and appearance, and interior lighting. Only cargo space was rated below the segment average.

Posted by Keagan Patrick at 11:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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The timeless Mercury Grand Marquis is the Ideal Large Luxury Car for 2007. Grand Marquis scored particularly well in its segment for cargo space and ease of getting in and out. These are attributes that are extremely important to its buyers. There was no area where Grand Marquis was rated significantly lower than the segment average.

Posted by Keagan Patrick at 11:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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The Mercury Montego (now Sable) is the Ideal Large Car for 2007. Clearly, Ford designers and engineers understood the buyer they were designing the Montego for and hit the target. Montego was rated particularly favorably in its segment with respect to visibility, technology level and wheel style. The one area where Montego was rated substantially lower than the segment average was power and acceleration. This is second IVA win for Montego having won the inaugural IVA award in 2006. Upgrading from the 3.0L V6 to the 3.5L V6 for the 2008 Sable should eliminate the Montego’s power and acceleration deficiency.

Posted by Keagan Patrick at 11:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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The all-new Lincoln MKZ is a clear winner among its Luxury Mid-Size Car competition. The MKZ proves that Lincoln’s new cars (and trucks) are on target, meeting the requirements of Lincoln’s buyers. In fact, all of the vehicles derived from this Ford platform did very well in the IVA ratings in their respective classes – Lincoln MKZ, Lincoln MKX, Ford Fusion, Ford Edge and Mercury Milan. The MKZ beat the segment average in 14 out of 15 categories, winning every measure other than ease of getting in and out. The MKZ rated particularly well with respect to interior lighting.

Posted by Keagan Patrick at 11:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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Hyundai Sonata owners rate the Sonata as the Ideal Premium Mid-Size Car. Owner ratings for Sonata’s package – size, roominess, and cargo space establish Sonata as the class leader among Premium Mid-Size Cars. Sonata does especially well in cargo space, visibility, ease of getting in and out and interior storage. Hyundai knows what their Premium Mid-Size Car customers want, and provides it. A sure way to beat the competition.

Posted by Keagan Patrick at 11:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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The new Saturn Aura has won a lot of awards – deservedly so – and it adds the Ideal Mid-Size Car Award for 2007 to its trophy case. The Aura was highly rated for exterior styling, interior lighting, seat firmness, technology level, and power and acceleration. It was rated notably lower than the segment average only for ease of getting in and out. Aura is one of the rarities winning both of AutoPacific’s 2007 Awards – the Vehicle Satisfaction Award and the Ideal Vehicle Award.

Posted by Keagan Patrick at 11:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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Again, package considerations put the Hyundai Elantra at the top of the hotly competitive Compact Car class. The Elantra is highly rated for exterior size, passenger room, cargo space, visibility, ease of getting in and out, and interior storage. Interior lighting was also highly rated, while power and acceleration is slightly below segment average.

Posted by Keagan Patrick at 11:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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Image compact cars are products where style, presence and image count more than absolute function. In the case of the Audi A3, winner of both AutoPacific awards for 2007 – the Vehicle Satisfaction Award and the Most Ideal Image Compact Car Award, A3 combines both emotional excellence with functional excellence. Owner preferences for power and acceleration, exterior styling and exterior size drove the new A3 to a class win, in a segment including such tough competitors as the Toyota Prius and the MINI. Ease of getting in and out was the only category where the A3 was substantially below segment average.

Posted by Keagan Patrick at 11:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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The new Porsche Cayman is the Most Ideal Premium Sports Car in its first year on the market. Sports cars are not known for their functionality and utility, but are known for high image, high performance and sex appeal. Cayman delivers. As might be expected, the Cayman is highly rated for exterior styling and handling. As with virtually all Premium Sports Cars, more power is always better – and the Cayman is no exception.

Posted by Keagan Patrick at 11:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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The Most Ideal Economy Car win goes to the Toyota Yaris. The new Toyota Yaris is highly rated for exterior size, passenger room and cargo space. Power and acceleration are rated relatively low with respect to the total industry, but fully competitive within the Economy Car segment.

Posted by Keagan Patrick at 11:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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The all-new Volkswagen Eos ties as Most Ideal Sporty Car for 2007. The retractable hardtop Eos is a competitive all-rounder with its usefulness enhanced by its retractable hardtop – convertible, sporty coupe all in one package without the compromises required by a pure soft-top convertible.

No wonder Ford sells so many Mustangs! Most Ideal Sporty Car, and segment leader in 14 out of 15 categories the Mustang blows today’s competition into the weeds. New competition is coming in the next couple of years, but it looks like Ford’s designers and engineers know best what Sporty Car buyers require and deliver it in spades.

Posted by Keagan Patrick at 11:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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The Nissan Titan is the Ideal Large Light Duty Pickup among very tough competition. Three areas particularly shine: (1) power and acceleration (2) package related items like passenger room, ease of getting in and out and interior storage and (3) size and appearance of wheels and tires. In part, this can be explained by the fact that the Titan is available only with a large V-8 engine and only in extended cab and crew cab configuration. This focus gives Titan a tightly defined product definition that Nissan designers and engineers deliver well. The irony is that some of the same factors that make the Titan “Ideal” also limit sales potential.

Posted by Keagan Patrick at 11:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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By winning the 2007 Ideal Vehicle Award, the Porsche Boxster wraps up a clean sweep of all three AutoPacific awards for the year – the Vehicle Satisfaction Award, the Motorist Choice Award with Intellichoice and the Ideal Vehicle Award. This sweep is extremely rare and was duplicated by only one other vehicle this year. The Boxster scores particularly well with respect to handling and also exterior size, passenger room and cargo space. The Boxster is top of its class in terms of power and acceleration, but the numbers tell the tale: more power please!

Posted by Keagan Patrick at 11:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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The new GMT900 GMC Sierra Heavy Duty Pickup is the Ideal vehicle in this workhorse class. The Sierra is highly rated for its tough-looking exterior styling and handling. In a class that appreciates the General Motors Duramax diesel and Allison 6-speed automatic transmission, Sierra gets high marks for power and acceleration. Wheel and tire size and appearance rate a bit low and might be an aftermarket opportunity, however.

Posted by Keagan Patrick at 11:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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Owner ratings give the GMC Canyon a win as the Ideal Compact Pickup. GMC designers and engineers have provided a vehicle that has the styling, size, passenger space, power, acceleration and technology GMC buyers in this class require.

Posted by Keagan Patrick at 11:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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A minivan is a utilitarian people mover where function often wins over styling and image. The all-new Hyundai Entourage wins as the Most Ideal Minivan with exterior size, exterior styling and power and acceleration providing just what its target buyers prefer. The outstanding achievement of winning the Most Ideal Minivan Award in its first year out proves that Hyundai designers and engineers understand the American minivan buyer and have provided a vehicle that caters to their needs.

Posted by Keagan Patrick at 11:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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While Range Rover may arguably be the most prestigious Sport Utility Vehicle on the market it certainly meets or exceeds the product requirements for its buyers winning the Most Ideal Luxury Sport Utility Vehicle Award for 2007. Land Rover’s decades of experience in producing luxurious and capable SUVs coveted by affluent SUV buyers has certainly paid dividends. The Range Rover scores well in all 15 categories, but package considerations such as exterior size, passenger room, cargo space, visibility, and interior storage place the Range Rover at the head of the class.

Posted by Keagan Patrick at 11:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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