Titan Tops Awards
Nissan's Titan figured in MSN Autos' headlines as the first pickup ever to have the highest overall score in the annual Vehicle Satisfaction Awards from AutoPacific. Nissan models dominated all others in this annual vehicle satisfaction study.
Although Lexus won the Award's overall best brand (narrowly surpassing Cadillac which has ranked highest in three of the last five years), Nissan was the big winner fielding seven category winners, including the Titan full-size pickup truck, the vehicle with the highest overall ranking and the Maxima, which was the highest rated car. Titan's win marked the first time a pickup truck outscored all other vehicles.
Meanwhile, Korean automakers continued to excel, winning the Standard Midsize Sport Utility class four years in the running for Hyundai Sante Fe (tied with the Chevrolet Equinox), and with Hyundai Tucson tying with Honda's Element for the top ranking of compact SUVs.
Unfortunately the domestic brands weren't quite as lucky. Scoring only five among the seventeen categories, winners included the Pontiac GTO as top Sporty Car; the Dodge Ram HD as category winner for Large Heavy-Duty Pickup; and the Lincoln Town Car taking the top spot for the Luxury/Large Car category. The Buick LaCrosse and Chevrolet Equinox tied with their competitors in their respective categories.
This year also marked two more firsts: Toyota's boxy and youth-oriented brand, the [link=www.scion.com/]Scion[/link] ranked at the top of the Compact Car category for the first time, and was also the first time AutoPacific had a three-way tie -- the Honda Odyssey, Nissan Quest and Toyota Sienna all finished with equal scores to take top honors in the Minivan category.
So whatever happened to America's bestselling vehicle, Ford F-150, you ask. I doubt very much if F-150 fans would care about this piece of news. After all, Ford's crown jewel is still the country's bestselling pickup for the past 22 years and running. I myself own both pickup models, my F-150 is turning four this year while my Nissan Titan I just recently bought. Both are great rides. Although I'm very much curious of Toyota's Scion -- my teenage son keeps on pressing me about the boxy beauty (as he calls it), for now I'm settling with a new F150 bumper for my ride from Ford Parts Online.
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