Americans love their autos. The job market has stagnated and the stock market has tanked, but consumers keep buying new cars and light trucks

at a remarkable pace. Last month, for example, such vehicles were selling at an annualized pace of 18.1 million vehicles, up from annualized sales of about 16.5 million in July 2001.

There's little doubt that interest-free financing plans are partly responsible for

surging sales, according to the Wall Street Journal. But the latest installment of the American Customer Satisfaction Index, scheduled for release Aug. 19 by the University of Michigan Business School, suggests that there is more than just cheap financing behind the buying binge.

According to the ACSI survey, consumers are more satisfied with their autos than they are with most other major products.