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2006 Motorist's Choice AwardsSeptember 27, 2006  IntelliChoice.com AND AutoPacific TEAM UP TO ANNOUNCE FIRST ANNUAL MOTORIST'S CHOICE AWARDS - Awards Recognize Vehicles with Highest Driver Satisfaction and Lowest Cost of Ownership - - Infiniti QX56 Wins Highest Rating Among All Classes/Vehicle Models - AutoPacific, the industry source for automotive owner satisfaction ratings and IntelliChoice.com, the online source for automotive ownership cost and value analysis today announced the results of the newly established Motorist's Choice Awards for the 2006 vehicle model year. IntelliChoice.com and AutoPacific created the Motorist's Choice Awards to determine the vehicles that delivered both the highest satisfaction and lowest cost of ownership. The collaboration between the two respected firms, who have each been authorities on the U.S. car market for the last 20 years, takes selected owner satisfaction data from AutoPacific's surveys of new car and light truck buyers and combines it with IntelliChoice.com's rating methodology to create a new measurement that speaks to both the hearts and minds of car buyers. "While the economic analysis of car ownership remains very important-it can save or cost you thousands of dollars over the life of the vehicle-it is also important to recognize owner satisfaction as another significant influencer in vehicle purchases," said James Bell, publisher of IntelliChoice.com. "These are the two key benchmarks we think car buyers should be most attuned to." "Ratings of owners' satisfaction with their new car and truck illustrates how well the vehicle is satisfying the emotional and practical needs of the driver. Satisfaction is more than simply how well a product is screwed together and there are many more dimensions to the equation. Combining AutoPacific's satisfaction results with the value analysis from IntelliChoice provides the car buyer with an outstanding benchmark to use when selecting a new vehicle," said George Peterson, President of AutoPacific. WINNERS For the inaugural awards, IntelliChoice.com and AutoPacific identified 29 winning models by segment and class. The top-ranked vehicles in their respective categories are: o Cars: Lexus LS430 o Trucks: Chevrolet Avalanche 1500 4x2 o SUV/Crossover: Infiniti QX56 o Minivans/Wagons: Audi A6 4.2 Quattro In terms of overall rankings, the Infiniti QX56 SUV scored highest in both driver satisfaction and lowest cost of ownership, followed closely by the Lexus LS430 sedan. METHODOLOGY The Motorist's Choice Awards were calculated by combining IntelliChoice.com cost of ownership data with AutoPacific's customer satisfaction survey data. AutoPacific surveys 45 different vehicle ownership attributes, and of these, 38 product-focused attributes were used. Each of the product attributes generates a score between 5 and 25, allowing a maximum possible score of 950, which is then normalized to 1000. The actual scores range from 495 to 756. The remaining seven attributes are cost-ownership-focused and addressed by IntelliChoice.com: Depreciation, Financing, Fuel, Insurance, Maintenance, Repairs, and State Fees. IntelliChoice.com rates vehicles based on the vehicles' total ownership cost against the vehicles' total expected cost. To merge the IntelliChoice.com data with the AutoPacific rating system, IntelliChoice.com ranked each model within the 28 different classes. A conversion formula was then used such that the best model within the IntelliChoice.com analysis received the equivalent score as the best model within the AutoPacific analysis, and the worst model received the equivalent score as the worst model within the AutoPacific analysis. This conversion was done for each class. The final step was to combine the AutoPacific score with the converted IntelliChoice.com score. This was accomplished by creating a weighting for each class based on the AutoPacific importance scores from the 45 attributes. The average importance score from the product attributes were weighted against the average importance score from the ownership cost attributes. The AutoPacific and IntelliChoice.com scores were combined through multiplying the AutoPacific Score by the product attributes weighting and the IntelliChoice.com score by the ownership cost attributes weighting, and then adding the two scores together." About IntelliChoice.com Part of PRIMEDIA, the country's leading targeted media company, IntelliChoice.com is the market leader in automotive ownership cost and value analysis. Founded in 1986 and celebrating its 20th Anniversary, IntelliChoice.com is committed to empowering consumers to make better purchase decisions by providing independent and essential automotive information and car-buying tools. Through IntelliChoice.com consumers get the help they need to research, compare, configure and price vehicles. The site also connects buyers to the buying alternatives of their choice, including vehicle manufacturers and online buying services. About AutoPacific AutoPacific is a future-oriented automotive marketing and product-consulting firm in its 20th year of providing specialized automotive research. Every year AutoPacific publishes a wide variety of syndicated studies for the automotive industry. The firm also conducts extensive proprietary research and consulting for auto manufacturers, distributors, marketers and suppliers worldwide. Company headquarters and its state-of-the-art automotive research facility are in Tustin, California, with an affiliate office in the Detroit area. MOTORIST'S CHOICE AWARDS MODEL YEAR 2006 RANKINGS CARS: Index Model/Class o 729 Lexus LS430, Luxury o 707 Audi A6 4.2 Quattro, Sports Sedan/Wagon o 700 Toyota Avalon, Large o 682 Chevrolet Corvette, Sport o 674 Lexus SC 430, Luxury Convertible o 673 Honda Accord Sedan V6, Midsize o 656 Honda Accord Coupe , Compact o 653 MINI Cooper Convertible, Convertible o 647 MINI Cooper, Subcompact o 637 Honda Civic Si, Base Sport o 620 Subaru Legacy Wagon, Midsize/Large Wagon o 609 Scion xB, Small Wagon SPORT UTILITY: Index Model/Class o 737 Infiniti QX56, Luxury Utility o 704 Nissan Armada, Utility o 700 Lexus RX 330, Luxury Crossover o 684 Lexus ES 330, Near Luxury o 664 Nissan Murano, Midsize Crossover o 660 Toyota 4Runner, Intermediate Utility o 638 Mercury Mariner Hybrid, Small Crossover/Utility Kia Sportage, Compact Utility TRUCKS: Index Model/Class o 697 Chevrolet Avalanche 1500 4x2, Full-Size Pickup 4x2 1/2 Ton o 695 Honda Ridgeline, Compact Pickup 4WD o 694 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 Extended Cab 4x2, Full-Size Pickup 4x2 3/4 Ton o 686 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Extended Cab 4x4, Full-Size Pickup 4x4 1/2 Ton o 645 Chevrolet Avalanche 2500 4x4, Full-Size Pickup 4x4 3/4 Ton o 638 Dodge Ram 3500 Mega Cab 4x4, Full-Size Pickup 4x2 One Ton o 638 Dodge Ram 3500 Mega Cab 4x4, Full-Size Pickup 4x4 One Ton o 617 Toyota Tacoma 4x2, Compact Pickup 4x2 VANS: Index Model/Class o 664 Honda Odyssey, Minivan |
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