Lexus Wins Again

Toyota Motor Co.’s luxury division Lexus grabbed top honors as the best line of autos in 1991, according to the influential D. Power survey released Monday.

The consumer satisfaction survey by the market research company is based on responses from 34,000 motorists after one year of ownership.

General Motors Corp. was the only U.S. car maker to make the survey’s top 10 list, with its upstart Saturn division placing third and its luxury Cadillac line in the No. 8 spot.

Saturn, produced in Spring Hill, Tenn., is aimed squarely at import buyers, but analysts say the sporty compact is also stealing sales from other GM divisions, specifically Chevrolet.

1992 1991 Rank Car nameplate index rank 1. Lexus (Toyota) 179 1 2. Infiniti (Nissan) 167 1 3. Saturn (GM) 160 n/a* 4. Acura (Honda) 148 4 5. Mercedes-Benz 145 3 6. Toyota 144 6 7. Audi (VW) 139 7 8. Cadillac (GM) 138 8 9. Honda 138 4 10. Jaguar (Ford) 137 n/a**

*First models of Saturn came out in 1991

**J. D. Power does not provide rankings for car lines under the industry average.

The light-truck customer satisfaction study features both compact and full-size vehicles. The models ranking at the top of each segment are as follows:

Compact Pickup: Nissan

Compact Sport Utility: Toyota 4 Runner

Compact Van: Toyota Previa

Full-Size Pickup: Ford F-Series

Full-Size Sport Utility: Toyota Land Cruiser

Full-Size Van: (Segment Below Industry Average)

Nameplates that failed to exceed the industry average were, in alphabetical order: Alfa Romeo, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Daihatsu, Eagle, Ford, Geo, Hyundai, Isuzu, Lincoln, Mazda, Mercury, Plymouth, Pontiac, Subaru, Suzuki and Volkswagen.