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Lincoln, GMC clean up in AutoPacific Vehicle Satisfaction Awards

In recent years, there have been a lot of dire pronouncements made about Lincoln's future, or a lack thereof. But Ford's premium marque is like the Rocky Balboa of the auto business; every time the company seems ready to go, it comes back for more. Apparently, that dogged persistence is paying off, because the industry analysts at AutoPacific have put a big check in their win column with their newly released 2014 model year vehicle satisfaction survey. And despite recent enmity for its seemingly never-ending recall saga, it appears General Motors knows how to satisfy new owners, too.
In fact, not only was Lincoln named as the premium brand with the highest new owner satisfaction, even scored three models on the list of passenger cars with the most gratified buyers - the MKS, MKZ and MKZ Hybrid.
GM's stable of brands was also among the top companies in this year's survey. GMC was named the top popular brand by AutoPacific, with its Sierra pickup and Acadia crossover singled out for awards in their segments. Chevrolet also did incredibly well, with more cars on the list than any other brand. The Corvette, Camaro, Sonic and Impala all made the cut in their respective categories.

2021 GMC Canyon Denali shows its new grille

GMC showed us its new 2021 Canyon AT4 pickup at the beginning of the year. We got a few details on the "more upmarket" top-tier Denali trim coming next year, but we've been missing good photos of the article until now. The more upmarket part rings true when it comes to the front fascia of the the 2021 Canyon Denali, achieved at the cost of a busyness compared to the 2020 model. That's because designers bent the set-square lines on the current trim into angles and flared edges from top to bottom, adding more prominent textures along the way. The comparison shot in the gallery above reveals all,  the "exclusive heroic grille design" — really, that's GM's name for it — the heart of "a more distinctive and sophisticated design that has become synonymous with Denali," according to Holt Ware, the brand's head of exterior design. Inside, the luxury trim offers a new and exclusive open pore ash wood for accents, a Cocoa/Dark interior treatment, heated and cooled front seats, aluminum trim, and embroidered headrests. There's wholesale change coming for the entire Canyon lineup, but we need to wait for GM to officially announce the 2021 pickup to codify everything properly. The trim walk has changed, from Canyon, SLE, All Terrain, SLT, and Denali to Elevation Standard, Elevation, AT4, and Denali, and we're still wondering what this might to do the $650 Elevation Edition cosmetic package. The bargain basement models have also gone away, putting the new MSRP floor $4,200 above the 2020 model to go along with other price increases dotted throughout the lineup. GM Authority says Canyon production won't be delayed by the coronavirus lockdown, so production should begin n Wentzville, Missouri, in a few months. Related Video:    

May 2016: FCA wins, Ford and GM stumble on weak car volumes

The May 2016 sales numbers are in, and it looks as though FCA is getting some vindication for boldly cancelling two slow-selling car models. Meanwhile, Ford saw overall sales dip and GM's May volume took a big dive versus the same month in 2015. While Marchionne's decision to axe the Chrysler 200 and Dodge Dart has drawn criticism as being short-sighted, it's working for FCA so far. Although the Dart and 200 aren't out of production yet and no capacity has been shifted to crossover or trucks, May's numbers show that the emphasis on Jeep and Ram models makes sense right now. FCA's US sales rose 1 percent last month compared to May 2015, putting the year-to-date total at 955,186 vehicles, an increase of 6 percent compared to the same period last year. Standouts included the Jeep Renegade, Compass, and Patriot, and the Fiat 500X. Ram pickup sales were down 3 percent. And your fun fact is that Alfa Romeo sales were up precisely 10 percent, for a total of 44 4Cs sold versus 40 in the same month last year. At FoMoCo, the Ford brand took a hit to the tune of 6.4 percent from May 2015 to 2016, registering 226,190 sales last month. Lincoln showed improvement on its modest numbers, going from 9,174 to 9,807, a 6.9 percent increase. Overall, Ford was down 5.9 percent for the month to 235,997; despite the slump, year-to-date total Ford sales are up 4.2 percent to 1,112,939. Strong sellers included Escape, Expedition, F-Series, and Transit - big stuff. Most small and/or efficient models (Fiesta, Focus, Fusion, C-Max) saw sales slides. Fusion sales were also down, likely due to effects of model changeover to the freshened 2017 model. Ford has promised four new crossovers and SUVs by 2020 and if things keep trending this way the company will be able to sell them, but things could change in the next four years. GM saw the worst of it for domestic brands. Retail and fleet sales were down for each of the four divisions, with the May 2016 total dropping 18 percent to 240,450 vehicles. GM's year-to-date sales are down 5.0 percent in 2016 to 1,183,705. Both the Sierra and Silverado were down significantly, and the majority of Chevy, Buick, GMC, and Cadillac nameplates saw sales decreases, with both small cars and larger utilities included. Not even big stuff could help GM this month, it seems. We'll have more on the rest of the industry's May sales as those figures trickle in.