AutoPacific says its Ideal Vehicle Awards, or IVAs, are based solely on owner input, measuring “the fusion between owner expectations and reality.”

“IVAs speak to a vehicle's layout and design,” AutoPacific president George Peterson said in a news release. "Giving owners a chance to tell us what they would change and how they would change it reveals which vehicles are best designed to meet their needs and expectations.”

According to the 2019 Ideal Vehicle Awards that AutoPacific announced on Thursday, Volvo and Ram performed particularly well in meeting those expectations. The Volvo XC60 was named the 2019 overall winner. Ram was named the most ideal brand overall and most ideal popular brand, and Volvo was named most ideal premium brand.

One key finding of the awards was that trucks (SUVs and pickups) outperform cars in most IVA attributes, including areas such as visibility, technology, interior quietness and safety features. AutoPacific noted, however, that “there is still room for improvement.”

“SUVs continue to grow in popularity by giving consumers car-like fuel economy and better overall design, including technology and visibility,” Peterson said. “We will most certainly see continued growth in SUV sales, coupled with a decline in car sales.”

U.S. brands received eight IVA vehicle awards, which was a decline from 14 last year. European brands earned three vehicle wins, down from eight in 2018. Asian brands earned 13 wins, which was an increase from five in 2018.

Winners were distributed among 11 manufacturers. Nissan, Honda, and FCA won four categories each, while Ford, Volvo, Subaru, Hyundai and Tesla scored two wins apiece. GM, BMW and Toyota scored the remaining wins.

“While no single brand or manufacturer is taking all the glory, several brands have exceptional designs,” Peterson said.

AutoPacific said Nissan showed strength in the mid-size car and large SUV segments. Honda won the economy/compact car segments, and Subaru won the mid-size crossover SUV segments.

AutoPacific said it bases its 2019 awards on responses from more than 50,000 owners of new vehicles from all major manufacturers.

The following are the overall, brand and segment winners:

2019 Overall Winner: Volvo XC60
2019 Most Ideal Brand Overall and Most Ideal Popular Brand: Ram
2019 Most Ideal Premium Brand: Volvo

Passenger cars:
— Luxury car: Lincoln Continental
— Luxury EV car: Tesla Model 3
— Aspirational luxury car: Genesis G70
— Large car: Chrysler 300
— Luxury mid-size car: Nissan Maxima
— Mid-size car: Nissan Altima
— Premium compact car: BMW 2-Series
— Compact car: Honda Insight
— Economy car: Honda Fit
— Sports car: Chevrolet Corvette
— Sporty car: Dodge Challenger
— Popular EV car: Honda Clarity

Trucks:
— Full-size pickup: Ram 1500
— Mid-size pickup: Honda Ridgeline
— Luxury SUV: Infiniti QX80
— Large SUV: Nissan Armada
— Mid-size SUV: Jeep Grand Cherokee
— Executive luxury crossover SUV: Lincoln Nautilus
— Aspirational luxury crossover SUV: Volvo XC60
— Premium compact crossover SUV: Volvo XC40
— Premium mid-size crossover SUV: Subaru Ascent
— Mid-size crossover SUV: Subaru Forester
— Compact crossover SUV: Hyundai Kona
— Minivan: Toyota Sienna
— Luxury EV Crossover SUV: Tesla Model X