Survey: Kia's K900 luxury car tops in happy buyers

When it comes to being happy with your new car, owners of Kia's new luxury car are the happiest of all, a new survey finds.

Kia scored highest when it came to a single model, but didn't win the most categories, finds the 19th annual Vehicle Satisfaction Awards. It came in second, with four, behind General Motors, with five. Nissan had three.

"Competition is fierce and no one automaker dominates the results," says George Peterson, president of AutoPacific.

The new survey buttresses another closely watched index in the auto industry, J.D. Power's Initial Quality Study, which also showed big gains by South Korean automakers Kia and corporate cousin, Hyundai.

"Kia and Hyundai are continually improving owner satisfaction in key

areas like reliability and quality, yet are also hitting the mark with safety, braking, handling, styling and seat comfort, not to mention a very satisfying warranty program," Peterson says.

All told, the survey considered 66,000 responses involving 274 models from 33 brands for the 2015.

Among brands, big gains were seen by Jaguar, which moved up 11 positions, and Volkswagen, which moved up 10.

The list:

MOST SATISFYING VEHICLE OVERALL: Kia K900

HIGHEST SATISFACTION PREMIUM BRAND: Tesla

HIGHEST SATISFACTION POPULAR BRAND: GMC

Luxury Car

Kia K900

Aspirational Luxury Car

Volvo S60

Luxury Mid-Size Car

Lexus ES

Large Car

Kia Cadenza

Mid-Size Car

Hyundai Sonata

Premium Compact Car

Lexus CT 200h

Compact Car

Kia Soul (tie), Volkswagen Jetta, Volkswagen Beetle

Economy Car

Honda Fit

Sports Car

Chevrolet Corvette

Sporty Car

Dodge Challenger

Heavy Duty Pickup

Ford F-Series Super Duty

Light Duty Pickup

Ford F-150

Compact Pickup

Kia Sportage

Luxury SUV

Infiniti QX80

Large SUV

Chevrolet Tahoe

Mid-Size SUV

Jeep Grand Cherokee

Premium Luxury Crossover SUV

BMW X5 (tie), Mercedes-Benz ML

Mid-Size Crossover SUV

Honda CR-V

Compact Crossover SUV

Kia Sportage

Minivan

Nissan Quest