• May 20, 2011

AutoPacific has some surprises with its 2011 Vehicle Satisfaction Awards. Lincoln wins as top premium brand, Chrysler as top popular brand, and Ford Motor Company has the most overall awards -- seven. The top car is the Mercedes-Benz S-Class and Cadillac Escalade is the top truck.

The 15th annual Vehicle Satisfaction Awards (VSA) polling 68,000 new vehicle owners, measures 48 separate categories around ownership experience. In the study, Toyota had four wins, and General Motors and Hyundai had three wins.

Cars that won in their categories were Mercedes-Benz S-Class, Hyundai Genesis, Lincoln MKZ, Ford Taurus and Toyota Avalon (in a tie), Hyundai Sonata, Suzuki Kizashi, Volvo C30/S40/V50, Hyundai Elantra, Honda Fit, Porsche 911, and Scion tC.

Top trucks included Ford F-Series Super Duty, Chevrolet Avalanche, Honda Ridgeline, Cadillac Escalade, GMC Yukon, Jeep Grand Cherokee, and Lexus RX, among several others.