Kia Amanti Tops Strategic Vision Total Value Index

Want the best luxury car money can buy? Of course, choosing the “best” luxury car will always be up to the personal tastes

of each customer, but if you toss the status benefits of brand name out the window and just size up the Kia Amanti on spaciousness, quality, features and overall luxury, it's extremely hard to beat, as Strategic Vision found out with its Total Value Index (TVI) study.

The Amanti (called ‘Opirus' in many other markets) topped the large car segment in this year's TVI, a study that takes into consideration the total consumer ownership experience plus his or her beliefs about the “economic consequences of the purchase, either immediate or expected,” stated a Kia press release.

“In a tough economic climate it is good to see that consumers are recognizing the Amanti for everything that it has to offer,” added Michael Sprague, vice president of marketing, Kia Motors America (KMA).  “Being that the Total Value Index considers not only the overall ownership experience but what buyers feel the economic impact of their purchase will be, is a testament to Amanti's quality and value.”

Strategic

Vision arrives at its TVI results by querying owners about make and value, including expected reliability, expected fuel economy, price paid and expected resale value, and then “incorporating the importance of the variables that make up the ownership experience.”

Adding to the Strategic Vision TVI, the Amanti topped the same third party analyst's SmartGreenIndex in the large car segment and additionally was awarded a “Good” rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) in frontal and side impact crash tests, which is the best rating offered, going further to confirm the TVI results.

While the Amanti has always offered a full menu of standard and optional luxury amenities, such as leather seating surfaces, automatic climate control, power windows with automatic up/down control for all four windows, a limousine-like rear seating area and overall high quality interior appointments, its mid-cycle update freshened the exterior design, improved interior ergonomics, upped output from its 3.8-liter V6 to 264-horsepower and 260 lb-ft of torque and greatly improved ride and handling characteristics, enhancing Kia's flagship model to premium-like levels.