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Love Conquereth All – Strategic Vision Announces Most Loved Vehicles in America


nissan sentra
2014 Nissan Sentra Concept

SAN DIEGO--Feb. 15, 2014: Strategic Vision is pleased to release the most powerful and natural concept in understanding human decisions. While Ella Fitzgerald suggests what is most appropriate for this Valentine’s Day, is that “Birds do it; bees do it; … let’s do it, let’s fall in love,” the title “Most Loved Vehicles in America” reflects how hard people can fall in Love with what they drive. Maybe their vehicles should get chocolates and a card. The “Most Loved Vehicle in America” is the Tesla Model S.

“In our full-year automotive study, the winners both surprise and delight some pundits in the industry. Love creates vehicles that have a strong position in their markets and is ultimately expressed in being Loyal”

Dr. Darrel Edwards, Ph.D. reports, “We completed over a decade of research and consulting in determining how to capture the ways that people talk about their loves. We discovered that the natural language was in a ‘Love-Hate’ context with nuances in-between.” Vehicle buyers speak their minds, saying whether they Hate or Love their vehicles, or particular aspects of the vehicle and the experiences they deliver. According to Dr. Edwards, “The report of Most Loved Vehicles in America captures a vehicle’s total emotional response from buyer-drivers. The industry is mature enough to actually accept ‘True Love’ as a core comprehensive, interactive and discriminating emotional response.”

Each point, as measured on The Edwards Commitment Scale™, ranges from 1=Hate it, 2=a Failure, 3=Unsatisfactory, 4=Satisfactory, 5=Excellent, 6=Delightful and 7=Love it. Each point discriminates the quality and depth of the emotional response from the next. Many vehicles can be Excellent, fewer Delightful, with the best-of-the-best creating Love. The development of the integrity of the scale included its use in travel, hospitality, medical, educational and particular automotive categories and dedicated studies for a number of Fortune 100 companies. Love increases validity of the measurement and our understanding by 42 percent on average.

Often called upon as an industry spokesperson, Alexander Edwards, President of Strategic Vision says, “There is tremendous room for improvement among vehicles with truck platforms. Love is a dynamic tool for addressing where improvements can be made. ‘Love’ should be on any brand’s internal scorecard and really is the pinnacle of achievement. We have been able to demonstrate the power of Love to predict commitment, advocacy and loyalty. Love is about the bottom line. Ignore it at your own risk.”

“In our full-year automotive study, the winners both surprise and delight some pundits in the industry. Love creates vehicles that have a strong position in their markets and is ultimately expressed in being Loyal,” says Christopher Chaney, Executive Vice President for Strategic Vision.

It is obvious when examining the particular aspects of the Tesla, that the Tesla developers addressed important features that are LoveWorthy®. Tesla’s “Love” score of 852 out of 1000 is nothing short of astounding. Manufacturers appear to be striving to have their customers Love their experiences with their vehicles.

The scores are calculated using the reported Love score for each of the attributes delivered by the vehicle and the dealership experiences weighted by each vehicle’s outcome scores – commitment, overall satisfaction, total top emotional responses, proposed repurchase loyalty and actual repurchase loyalty – to provide a Most Loved Index™. The greater the number of aspects of the vehicle and its delivery of important aspects determined for each model-segment, the stronger the leverageable position for the brand and its particular models, the stronger the ability to deliver motivating communications and more dollars per unit of work from assembly to sales and service. The following list contains the number one ranked vehicles “Most Loved” in their segments as rated by new vehicle buyers for the majority of categories (4 points are required to determine a significant difference):

Micro Car Chevrolet Spark 612
Small Car Nissan Sentra / Dodge Dart 587
Small Multi-Function Car Hyundai Elantra GT Hatchback 611
Small APT Car Nissan Leaf / Toyota Prius C 541/540
Mid-Size Car Hyundai Sonata / Volkswagen Jetta/Passat 548/547
Mid-Size Multi-Function Car Honda Accord Crosstour / Volkswagen Jetta Sport 503/501
Mid-Size APT Car Chevrolet Volt 601
Large Car Dodge Charger 684
Near-Luxury Car Lexus ES 350/Hyundai Genesis 734/732
Luxury Car Hyundai Equus 821
Specialty Coupe Dodge Challenger 702
Premium Coupe BMW 3-Series Coupe / Audi A5 Coupe 695/693
Standard Convertible MINI Cooper Roadster / Convertible 692/691
Premium Convertible/Roadster Mercedes SL Class 753
Standard Pickup Honda Ridgeline 448
Full-Size Pickup Ram 1500 582
Heavy Duty Pickup Ram 2500/3500 / Ford F250/350 521/519
Entry SUV Toyota FJ Cruiser 564
Entry CUV Nissan Juke 593
Mid-Size SUV Ford Explorer / Dodge Durango / Jeep G. Cherokee 582/581/580
Mid-Size CUV Ford Flex / Hyundai Santa Fe 561/558
Full-Size Utility Nissan Armada 602
Near-Luxury Utility Infiniti FX 35/37 686
Luxury SUV Cadillac Escalade ESV 772
Luxury CUV BMW X6 721
Minivan Toyota Sienna 562
Most Loved Vehicle (Industry) Tesla Model S 852