Topping the rankings in Strategic Vision’s 19th annual Total Quality Index (TQI) for 2014 are Tesla, Audi and Kia.

The honor for Best Model in Total Quality went to the Tesla Model S, garnering a near-perfect score on the TQI scale. Kia led the way in the mass market segment while Audi, followed closely by Jaguar, capped the luxury market.

Christopher Chaney, Strategic Vision’s senior vice president, uses Tesla as an example to recommend to automakers aim at appealing to customers with an ever-evolving knowledge of the auto market.

“Tesla built a vehicle that generated love in attributes that were most important to segment buyers,” Chaney said.  “Tesla isn’t an electric vehicle that just has good features, but instead it’s a luxurious sports sedan that has ‘True Innovation’ as well as a rocket-like speed and drive feeling that just happens to be an electric vehicle.

“Consumers are powerful, have the Internet and know how to use calculators," he added.

Among the 28 separate TQI segments, 21 specific brands were represented with individual models ranking highest or near highest in each category, ranging from everything from small cars and coupes to heavy duty pickups and minivans. In addition to Tesla’s accolade, another good sign for the domestic market was represented by Ford, who had six separate top-ranked vehicles, with particular dominance shown in the pickup, utility and alternative powertrain categories. Chrysler Group followed closely behind with five vehicles listed.

Strategic Vision’s annual total quality assessment is powered by customer surveys, which gauge consumer opinions of various vehicle aspects, including reliability, problems, driving excitement and other measures. These responses are ranked on a seven-point scale, ranging from “Love-it, Delightful, Excellent and Satisfactory” to “Unsatisfactory, Failure and Hate-it.”

The complete 2014 TQI results reflect the top-ranked vehicles determined by collecting data from Strategic Vision’s study of 38,361 vehicle owners’ perception of their new vehicles and can be found here.

For a look at how this year’s rankings stack up to those from 2013, check it out here.