Holy Cow that is a lot of awards no kidding they used the word overwhelmed. I would like those who have had problems to weigh in here. Besides the issues and problems have you had good enough customer service to over come the frustration and disappointment and how do you feel about the awards? Do you think the Pacifica is merited in those awards?
We're overwhelmed' — Windsor's Pacifica scooping up automotive awards
Windsor Star
Doug Schmidt, Windsor StarAug 3, 2017
In 1984, after its first year of production, the innovative Windsor-built minivan that took the family-hauling auto market by storm earned a single honour, the “Zinc Institute Award of Excellence for Corrosion Protection.”
The Dodge Caravan and Plymouth Voyager would go on to win a “Car and Driver 10 Best” award the following year before — along with the Town and Country model — winning more than 300 additional awards over the next three decades.
Employees at the Windsor Assembly Plant celebrate a pair of J.D. Power awards on Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2017. In the front row from left are Michael Brieda, FCA Windsor Assembly Plant Manager and Scott Garberding, Head of Global Quality, FCA.
Compare that to Windsor Assembly Plant’s newest product. Just this past week, in only its first year of production, their plant’s successor, the 2017 Chrysler Pacifica and the Pacifica Hybrid, scooped up awards No. 60 and No. 61.
“We’ve been overwhelmed. We’re seeing great results,” said Matt McAlear, Fiat Chrysler’s senior manager, Passenger Car Brand — NAFTA. “The biggest thing, terrific for us to have, is that these are third-party endorsements,” he told the Star.
The J.D. Power 2017 U.S. APEAL Study award for highest-ranking minivan, as determined by purchasers 90 days after acquisition, was a biggie, a strong indicator of quality and customer satisfaction. The Pacifica had previously rated top minivan in the J.D. Power 2017 Initial Quality Study.
Chrysler Pacificas are lined up on a holding lot near Provincial Road in Windsor, Ontario on Aug. 3, 2017.
On Monday, the Pacifica won in the full-vehicle category at the fifth annual Altair Enlighten Awards for innovation in automotive lightweighting. Judges marvelled at the vehicle’s improved impact-protection rating despite a reduced weight, obtained through steel-plastic overmoulds and aluminum and cast magnesium in the body.
“The 2017 Chrysler Pacifica is our engineering response to the rapidly changing industry climate,” Phil Jansen, head of product development for FCA North America, said in accepting the latest accolade in Traverse City, Mich. “Customers are in need of ever-greater efficiency, but not at the expense of functionality — the Pacifica’s spacious package, delivered with a reduction in mass, allows us to exceed expectations,” Jansen said.
Some of the 6,000 Unifor Local 444 workers who assemble the Pacifica, honoured as North American Utility Vehicle of the Year at the 2017 Detroit auto show, were pulled off the line Wednesday for a celebration of, and photos with, the prestigious J. D. Power awards.
“The quality is there — we are really proud of our Windsor production facility,” said McAlear, who is based out of FCA’s Auburn Hills headquarters.
With the awards pouring in for an all-new product in its first year, McAlear said it’s proving a boon for the company’s marketing department.
“It’s easy for us to go out and say, ‘This is a great vehicle,'” he said. In advertising featuring the Pacifica’s safety features and top ratings, its functionality and versatility, as well as its cutting-edge technology and styling, McAlear said pointing to these awards “resonates better” with potential customers, and FCA has been tracking an upswing in potential buyer interest.
Chrysler Pacificas are lined up on a holding lot near Provincial Road in Windsor, Ontario on Aug. 3, 2017.
The message is getting out to its intended audience.
“If you’re looking for the perfect family vehicle, the Chrysler Pacifica is tough to beat,” said Ed Hellwig, senior editor with Edmunds.com Inc., an online automotive information company. Each year, Edmunds and Parents magazine examine and assess hundreds of new vehicles, and the magazine’s July issue featured the Pacifica as “best minivan” on its list of “10 Best Family Cars of 2017.”
Among the other accolades: the 2017 Chrysler Pacifica is U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Minivan for the Money;” winner of MotorWeek’s Driver’s Choice Award for Best Minivan; Kelley Blue Book’s Best Buy Minivan; and winner of WardsAuto awards for best user experience, best engine and best interior.
Car and Driver, in honouring the Pacifica as its 2017 Best Van, didn’t mince words about its Windsor heritage, describing the mid-’80s “original utilitarian tin boxes” — Plymouth Voyager and Dodge Caravan — as “the cheap, rattly three-door contraption you rode in as a child en route to ballet lessons or hockey practice.” But all that is replaced with gushing praise for the 2017 Pacifica.
“Using the best of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles group’s minivan technology, including stow-and-go seats, Chrysler has evolved the Windsor, Ontario–built minivan into a stylish family cruiser with great driving dynamics and thoughtful innovations to keep kids entertained on long trips,” said autoTRADER.ca in naming the Pacifica its 2017 Top Minivan.
As of the end of 2016, seven out of 10 minivans sold in Canada were built at the Windsor Assembly Plant, according to LouAnn Gosselin, FCA Canada’s head of communications.
Across the border, the top cities for Pacifica sales volumes are New York City, Detroit, Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington D.C. and Philadelphia, said McAlear.
In terms of the highest share of minivan sales, the top states for Windsor-built product are Michigan, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Wyoming, North Dakota and Wisconsin, he said.
The company said it could not divulge Windsor Assembly Plant production numbers.
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2017 Chrysler Pacifica awards … so far:
2017 Chrysler Pacifica
EyesOn Design
Award for Design Excellence – Production Truck
2017 Chrysler Pacifica
Detroit News Readers’ Choice
Awards
Best Family Fun Finder
2017 Chrysler Pacifica
WardsAuto World
10 Best Interiors List for 2016
2017 Chrysler Pacifica
Texas Auto Writers Association’
Texas Auto Roundup
Family Car of Texas, Minivan of Texas, and Best New Interior
2017 Chrysler Pacifica
Greater Atlanta Automotive
Media Association (GAAMA)
Overall Best Family Car and Best Value Family Car
2017 Chrysler Pacifica
Southern Automotive Media
Association (SAMA)
Winner, Affordable Panoramic category, Topless in Miami
2017 Chrysler Pacifica
Roadshow by CNET
Roadshow Editors’ Choice
2017 Chrysler Pacifica
2016 Ruedas ESPN Awards
Ruedas ESPN Best Minivan
2017 Chrysler Pacifica
2016 Ruedas ESPN Awards
Ruedas ESPN Vehicle of the Year
2017 Chrysler Pacifica
2017 Consumer Guide
Automotive
Best Buys in Minivan and Family Vehicle categories
2017 Chrysler Pacifica
WardsAuto
First-ever 10 Best User Experience List for 2016
2017 Chrysler Pacifica
Insurance Institute for
Highway Safety (IIHS)
Top Safety Pick+ for 2016
2017 Chrysler Pacifica
Cars.com
The Ultimate Minivan of 2016
2017 Chrysler Pacifica
autoTRADER.ca
Top Pick Award for Best Minivan
2017 Chrysler Pacifica
Kelley Blue Book
Best Buy — Minivan
2017 Chrysler Pacifica
Cars.com
Best Minivan of 2016
2017 Chrysler Pacifica
U.S. National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration (NHTSA)
Five-star overall safety rating
2017 Chrysler Pacifica
AutoTRADER.ca
2017 Top Pick for Minivan
2017 Chrysler Pacifica
The Car Connection’s 2017
Driver’s Choice Awards
Best New Family Car Winner
2017 Chrysler Pacifica
The Car Connection
Best Car To Buy 2017
2017 Chrysler Pacifica
The Car Connection
Best Family Vehicle To Buy 2017
2017 Chrysler Pacifica
The Car Connection
Best Minivan To Buy 2017
2017 Chrysler Pacifica
Consumers Digest
Best Buy in Minivan segment
2017 Chrysler Pacifica
Hispanic Motor Press
Awards (HMPA) (at 2016 LA
Auto Show)
Autos del Año (Cars of the Year) in the Minivan segment
2017 Chrysler Pacifica
The Car Guide / Le Guide de
l’auto (Canada)
Best Buy in Minivan category
2017 Chrysler Pacifica
2017 Wards 10 Best Engines
3.6L Pentastar (Atkinson Cycle) Engine
2017 Chrysler Pacifica
Car and Driver
“10Best” Trucks and SUVs list
2017 Chrysler Pacifica
Automobile Journalists
Association of Canada (AJAC)
Best New Large Utility Vehicle
2017 Chrysler Pacifica
Insurance Institute for
Highway Safety (IIHS)
2017 Top Safety Pick+ rating
2017 Chrysler Pacifica
Detroit Free Press
2017 Utility Vehicle of the Year
2017 Chrysler Pacifica
Automotive journalists from
the U.S. and Canada (NACTOY)
2017 North American Utility of the Year
2017 Chrysler Pacifica’s Uconnect Theater
CNET Roadshow Shift Awards
Cabin Technology of the Year
2017 Chrysler Pacifica
Cars.com 2017 Best of Awards
at NAIAS
Best of 2017 Award
2017 Chrysler Pacifica
Detroit News Reader’s Choice
competition
Best Road-Trip Ride
2017 Chrysler Pacifica
Detroit News Reader’s Choice
competition
Best Family Fun finder
2017 Chrysler Pacifica
U.S. News & World Report
Best Minivan for the Money
2017 Chrysler Pacifica
Detroit News
Vehicle of the Year
2017 Chrysler Pacifica
Chicago News Annual Auto
Edition Awards
Best Family Vehicle
2017 Chrysler Pacifica
The Current News in
Northwest Washington, D.C.
Best For Northwest 2017 winner in Minivan category
2017 Chrysler Pacifica
MotorWeek
2017 MotorWeek Drivers’ Choice Award for Best Minivan
2017 Chrysler Pacifica
Midwest Automotive Media
Association (MAMA)
2017 Family Vehicle of the Year
2017 Chrysler Pacifica
Kelley Blue Book
12 Best Family Cars of 2017 in Best Minivans for Families category
2017 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid
Greater Atlanta Automotive
Media Association (GAAMA)
Best of Atlanta International Auto Show in the Green category
2017 Chrysler Pacifica
Autotrader
2017 Autotrader Must Test Drive Award
2017 Chrysler Pacifica
Hybrid
2017 Canadian Green Car
Award Finalist
Finalist in Efficient three-row family vehicle segment
2017 Chrysler Pacifica
Rocky Mountain Automotive
Press (RMAP)
2017 Crossover-SUV of the Year
2017 Chrysler Pacifica
Popular Mechanics’ annual
Automotive Excellence Awards
Best Minivan
2017 Chrysler Pacifica
New York Daily News Autos
team
Best Minivan of 2017
2017 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid
Texas Auto Writers Association
Texas Auto Roundup
Family Car of Texas, Minivan of Texas and Green Car of Texas
2017 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid
Texas Auto Writers Association
Texas Auto Roundup
Best Feature for Hybrid powertrain
2017 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid
Greater Atlanta Automotive
Media Association Family Car
Challenge
Best Family Car and Best Technology Family Car
2017 Chrysler Pacifica
Greater Atlanta Automotive
Media Association Family Car
Challenge
Best Three-row Family Car
2017 Chrysler Pacifica
New England Motor Press
Association (NEMPA) winter
competition
Best in Class — Minivan/People Mover
2017 Chrysler Pacifica
AutoPacifica 2017 Vehicle Satisfaction Awards
Winner, Minivan category
2017 Chrysler Pacifica
Parent Magazine and Edmunds.com
Best Minivan on list of 10 Best Family Cars of 2017
2017 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid
Northwest Automotive Press Association (NWAPA)
Northwest Family Green Vehicle of the Year
2017 Chrysler Pacifica
2017 Digital Trends Car Awards
Best Daily Driver
2017 Chrysler Pacifica
Strategic Vision’s Total
Quality Impact (TQI)
Report
First place in total quality among Minivans
2017 Chrysler Pacifica
J.D. Power 2017 U.S. APEAL
Study
Ranks highest among Minivans in its inaugural year
2017 Chrysler Pacifica
J.D. Power 2017 U.S. Initial
Quality StudySM (IQS)
Highest ranking Minivan in quality study in its maiden year
2017 Chrysler Pacifica
Altair Enlighten Awards
Winner in full-vehicle category for innovation in auto lightweighting
