FRANKLIN, TN - Autobytel and AutoPacific announced the winners for the 16th annual Vehicle Satisfaction Award, with Nissan Frontier taking top honors in the compact pickup category.

The award measures how satisfied new car and light truck buyers are with their recently purchased vehicle and is based on more than 75,000 survey respondents who objectively rate 48 key vehicle attributes on their importance when considering to purchase, as well as satisfaction after purchase.

"The 2012 Frontier has earned numerous accolades for its dependability and value since its launch, and today we celebrate the distinguished honor of providing our valued owners with the highest level of overall satisfaction," said Al Castignetti, vice president and general manager, Nissan Division, Nissan North America. "This award underscores the strong commitment the company has made in delivering quality and reliability while still offering new levels of innovation, fuel-efficiency, dynamic performance and premium style to all our customers."

According to the automaker, the Nissan Frontier emulates many of the Nissan Titan's full-size features, including its exterior styling. Frontier utilizes signature Nissan truck themes, including an angled strut grille, large bumpers, short front and rear overhangs and large, stamped steel, geometric fender flares. The 2012 Frontier model lineup consists of Frontier S, Frontier SV, Frontier PRO-4X (4x4 models only) and Frontier SL (Crew Cab only). It is offered in both King Cab and Crew Cab body styles, in 4x2 and 4x4 driveline configurations.

The honor from Autobytel and AutoPacific follows four other industry awards for Frontier in 2012. In addition to being listed on Insure.com's annual "Least Expensive To Insure" list, Frontier was named first in the mid-size pickup truck category in the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) 2011 Texas Truck Rodeo, and to Kelley Blue Book's "Best Resale Value Award: Top Ten Models" for model year 2012. Notably, J.D. Power and Associates named Frontier as the top mid-size pickup in its 2012 Vehicle Dependability Study.