Owners Rank Porsche as the Ideal Vehicle for an Unprecedented Third Time

AutoPacific's Coveted Award Is Based On Opinions of Thousands of Customers

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Jul 13, 2010, 12:06 ET

ATLANTA, July 13 /PRNewswire/ -- For the third-year straight year, Porsche customers have rated the superior driving experience of their cars in AutoPacific's annual 2010 Ideal Vehicle Awards (IVA) survey. Indeed, the Porsche owners' ratings were so high that once again the German brand is the survey's number-one rated premium car brand in the United States. Porsche took home the same honor in 2008 and 2009.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20100713/CL32922 )

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100713/CL32922 )

The AutoPacific IVAs are among the most comprehensive and respected in the industry and this year they were based on more than 42,000 owners' ratings of their new 2010 model year cars and trucks across 15 key vehicle attributes that measure just how closely a vehicle matches their expectations. The cars that owners would change the least are considered the most ideal.

In addition to winning as a brand overall, Porsche also swept this year's specific IVA sports car segment. The highly acclaimed Porsche Cayman was chosen as the winner of the Ideal Sports Car. Coming in second and third were the Porsche Boxster and 911 respectively. This also marks consecutive years that Porsche has taken the top spot in the IVA's sports car category.

"An ideal vehicle is one that meets the owner's expectations for the product. They do not want it changed. They don't want it bigger. They don't want it faster. They don't want its styling changed," says George Peterson, president of AutoPacific. "When asked what they would change about their new vehicle, buyers who want the least change are driving their ideal vehicle. This means Porsche has created cars that owners essentially say are perfect."

The IVAs are driven by data collected from thousands of new car and light truck buyers measuring the fusion between trust, anticipation, expectations and reality within specific product segments. In addition to identifying segment winners, IVA also establishes numerical ideal vehicle ratings for virtually every passenger car and light truck in the United States market. These results come from calculating owner input across 15 specific areas related to a vehicle's attributes, including: exterior styling, exterior size, passenger roominess, cargo space, driver's seat comfort, driver's seat visibility, interior technology, interior lighting, power and acceleration, ease of getting in and out, interior storage compartments, ride, handling, safety features and tires and wheels.

The Awards incite the notion that automakers that best understand their customers and create the vehicle their buyers demand, come closest to the ideal.

AutoPacific is a future-oriented automotive marketing and product-consulting firm. Every year it publishes a wide variety of syndicated studies on 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.

About Porsche Cars North America, Inc

Porsche Cars North America, Inc. (PCNA), based in Atlanta, Ga., is the exclusive importer of Porsche vehicles for the United States. It is a wholly owned, indirect subsidiary of Dr. Ing.h.c. F. Porsche AG. PCNA employs 213 people who provide Porsche vehicles, parts, service, marketing and training for its 199 dealers. The dealers, in turn, provide Porsche owners with best-in-class service. Throughout its 61-year history, Porsche has developed numerous technologies that have advanced vehicle performance, improved safety and spurred environmental innovations within the automotive industry. The company continues to celebrate its heritage by adding to its long list of motorsports victories dating back to its first 24 Hours of Le Mans class win in 1951. Today, with more than 28,000 victories, Porsche is recognized as the world's most successful brand in sports car racing. PCNA, which imports the iconic 911 series, the highly acclaimed Boxster and Cayman mid-engine sports cars, high-end Cayenne sport utility vehicles and the four-passenger Panamera Gran Turismos, strives to maintain a standard of excellence, commitment and distinction synonymous with its brand.

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SOURCE Porsche Cars North America, Inc.