The Mercedes-Benz S-Class, the best-selling German luxury sedan in the Middle East, has been awarded the highest number of overall points for the third time running in a new customer survey.

The latest APEAL study (Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout Study) by US market research institute J D Power reflects how satisfied car buyers were with their new cars after driving them for three months between December 2008 and February 2009.

Around 81,000 new car buyers delivered their verdict on a large number of aspects in a detailed questionnaire. These included driving characteristics, exterior and interior design, operating functionality, stowage space, but also e.g. also the noise made when closing the doors.

A maximum of 1000 points was achievable. The Mercedes-Benz S-Class scored 887 points – the highest number in any of the categories.

This makes the luxury saloon the best car in the US market, as well as the measure of all things in the large premium car segment. The S-Class there-fore easily defended the first place it had already achieved in 2007 and 2008.

Other winners in their segment were the Mercedes-Benz SLK roadster, while the two-seater Smart, which was represented in the APEAL study for the first time, took the first place in the sub-compact car segment.

“This result by the internationally renowned market research institute under-lines the high level of Mercedes customers' satisfaction with the quality and design of their new cars,” said Frank Bernthaler, director, Mercedes-Benz Cars, Middle East & Levant.

The Mercedes-Benz SLK was also the winner in its class, gaining 28 points after the last model facelift. Other improvements were achieved by the M-Class (plus 10 points), the R-Class (plus 7 points) and the C-Class (plus 6 points).

The overall average achieved by the Mercedes models was 841 points.

In this study, car buyers made very positive mention of the fact that in their view that Mercedes-Benz has made very substantial progress in reducing fuel consumption and therefore carbon dioxide emissions. – TradeArabia News Service