Best Perceived Car Brands

Who’s got the best automotive brand perception for 2010? Toyota locked it up for another year as reported in Consumer Reports 2010 Best Car Brand Perception Survey. Keep in mind – this is brand perception – as judged by the consumer’s viewpoint; real-word production quality does not apply.

The categories for “perception judging” included:

• Safety

• Quality
• Value
• Performance
• Design/Style
• Technology/Innovation
• Environmentally friendly/Green

Interesting note: Safety ranked as #1 most important category.

Toyota sits confidently at the #1 spot on the list; Ford saw incredible movement upward on this year’s list as its “perceived” value skyrocketed 32 points – putting them at the #2 position. This move up knocked Honda from the #2 position it earned last year.

The biggest jump, a 39 point upward movement, came from Subaru. I think its safe to say Ford’s social media efforts and even Subaru’s viral efforts had something to do with the increase in perceived value. I know it affected my perception.

When asked to name a brand to a specific category, survey responses included:

• Safety: Volvo (73 percent)
• Quality: Toyota (30 percent)
• Value: Honda, Toyota (statistical tie at 26 percent)
• Performance: BMW (29 percent)
• Environmentally friendly/green: Toyota (51 percent)
• Design/style: Lexus, Cadillac, Mercedes-Benz (tie at 23 percent
• Technology/innovation: Toyota (32 percent)

The Top 10 Best Overall Car Brand Perception Rankings:

• Toyota: 196
• Ford: 141
• Honda: 135
• Chevrolet: 124
• Volvo: 92
• Mercedes-Benz: 92
• BMW: 90
• Cadillac: 87
• Subaru: 81
• Lexus: 80

What’s your perception?