Every Year, Consumer Reports conducts a random, nationwide telephone survey on overall brand perception in the automotive industry. The 2011 results are in, and Ford is leading in the factors that matter most to car shoppers – safety, quality, and value.
Toyota has consistently led the way in brand perception for a number of years, but over the last two years, Ford has been climbing the ranks. Ford has increased its brand perception score by 35 points since 2009, to amount to a total of 144 points this year. Toyota and Ford now rank a very close first and second place, respectively, in overall perception.
The scores in the Consumer Reports study reflect how consumers perceive each brand in seven categories – safety, quality, value, performance, design/style, technology/innovation, and environmentally friendly/green. Combining all of the categories gives the brand’s total perception score, but does not reflect the actual quality of any brand’s vehicles.
According to the survey, the brand's reputation for being environmentally friendly is becoming less important to consumers. Only 28 percent of respondents found it to be an important factor when buying a car. This has dropped by 4 percentage points since last year and by 12 points since 2008.
The chart below show the overall scores for the top ten brands, according to the Consumer Reports 2011 Car Brand Perception Survey. See if you agree with the results…
Overall Brand Perception Leaders
- Toyota
- Ford
- Honda
- Chevrolet
- BMW
- Mercedes-Benz
- Volvo
- Lexus
- Cadillac
- Subaru
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