A glimmer of good news for the U.S. car industry: Cadillac is the top brand two years running in the Vehicle Satisaction Awards survey by AutoPacific, a Tustin, CA, market research group. Hyundai is the "rising star" brand  of the study because it improved in 40 of 48 measured areas, AutoPacific says. Toyota and stablemates Lexus and Scion had the most individual model winners, six, out of the 23 categories. Ford had four and Hyundai/Kia had three. The Lexus Ls 460 was the highest scoring individual model; the Cadillac Escalade was the highest scoring light truck.

AutoPacfic says the survey measures "how satisfied an owner is with his/her new car or light truck" and was conducted among 25,000 buyers or lessees at the end of 2008. It sounds a lot like another touchie-feelie survey, the J.D. Power APEAL (Automotive Performance, Execution, and Layout) survey of what excites buyers abou their new cars, but on that one Cadillac was sixth, behind Porsche, Jaguar, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Lexus. After the jump, the award winners: