Industry Report Part 3: Toyota and Lexus Take 7 First Place Finishes in J.D. Power VDS

The Full-Size SUV class was swept by the domestics last year, but finally a Japanese import has entered the fray through the

Last year's winner of the Full-Size SUV class, the GMC Yukon, was knocked into 2nd place this year. (Photo: General Motors of Canada)

back door. Now the Toyota Sequoia takes 3rd place, simultaneously bumping last year's 3rd placeholder into the top spot in the category. The GMC Yukon, 2003's category winner has been knocked down to 2nd while last year's runner up is no longer on the list.

Lexus took the Entry Luxury SUV once again, kind of. In reality there was no Entry Luxury SUV category, but just a Luxury SUV segment in the 2003 VDS. Don't ask me where J.D. Powers' classifies Full-Size Luxury SUVs, as there's no segment specified for such vehicles now. Just the same, in the new Entry Luxury SUV

The Full-Size Pickup segment had the same results as last year, with Ford's F-150 in first place again. (Photo: Ford Motor Company of Canada)

category the Infiniti QX4 takes 2nd once again and the Acura MDX replaces the Lexus LX 430 in 3rd.

What about pickups? Among 2001 models the domestics swept the category for this year, starting with Ford's Ranger, and followed by the Chevy S10 and GMC Sonoma (both no longer available). That's impressive, as last year it was the Toyota Tacoma on top with the Mazda B-Series (which for all points and purposes is a Ford Ranger with a nose job) in 3rd.

The second category to experience duplicate results from 2003 to 2004 is the Full-Size Pickup segment, still lead by the Ford F-150 LD, and followed up by the Toyota Tundra in 2nd and GMC Sierra LD in 3rd.