Durango named best Mid-Size Traditional Utility on Total Value Index

Posted on March 15th, 2012 • by Bill Cawthon  republished from www.Allpar.com http://www.allpar.com/news/index.php/2012/03/durango-named-best-mid-size-traditional-utility-on-total-value-index

Strategic Vision today released the results of the most recent Total Value Index (TVI). The Dodge Durango was named the best total value in the mid-size traditional utility segment, besting the Ford Explorer and Hyundai Santa Fe.
Total Value is based on owner statements covering 442 attributes and focuses on immediate and expected (long term) economic factors such as warranty, technical innovation, standard equipment, fuel effciency, etc.
Chris Chaney, the company’s Vice President and head of Automotive Research, said, “Our study is the most comprehensive in the industry. In addition to vehicle perceptions, we know what political party the owner claims, their personal media habits and hobbies, as well as what ethnicity they claim —all self-reported and not using any multifarious appended algorithms or systems.”
Chaney adds to the Total Value results, “An important ‘time marker’ in this year’s study is that for the first time in over ten years American manufacturers lead the number of Total Value winners with eleven segment leaders. This is an important milestone toward the ‘domestic comeback.’”
“The way you become a Value leader in this economy is to create an exceptional product that is affordable. Price alone will not determine value. Finally, you deliver vehicles like the Jetta SportWagen and the Volkswagen CC — both segment winners — that fit into the economic structure we live in, including gas prices, fears about rising prices and the economy, and affordability that make the purchase so very desirable. You get so much for such a reasonable, affordable cost with short-term issues (like MPG, plus performance) and long-term issues (like expected dependability and even resale),” says Dr. Darrel Edwards, Founder and Executive Director of Strategic Vision.
The “Total” Value equation involves a number of important cues like great MPG, Resale, Price and Reliability — but what cannot be forgotten is the importance of Innovation. Innovation must be impactful, intuitive and true to what owners desire. This is what owners respond to and what they connect with in meaningful ways, such as they did with the “all new” Mid-Size Traditional SUV segment leader Dodge Durango.