Leading Brands in 2014 as per Car Brand Perception Survey

Consumer reports released the results of annual car brand perception survey. It shows some interesting results. Chevrolet, Honda, Ford and Toyota are still at the top. In overall scores, these brands have significant advantages. Even though several other brands including Tesla are improved their rankings. In the survey there are seven categories of consumer perception considered. Those are innovation or technology, style or design, fuel economy, value, performance, safety and quality. The total brand perception score is came out by combining those factors.

Best and worst:
With a 145 point score, Toyota is at the top of overall brand perception. The next top brands up to ten ranks are Ford (120), Honda (109), Chevrolet (105), Tesla Motors (88), Subaru (87), Mercedes Benz (82), Volvo (80), Cadillac (78) and BMW (73). From the worst perception by the consumer Land Rover is at top with four points. Maserati and jaguar scored 8 and 9 points respectively. Above ten points in the worst brand are Rolls Royce (11), Scion and Ram with 17, Mini and Mitsubishi with 21, Infiniti 22 and Jeep is 23.

Important factors to buy:
Quality is the most important factor while buying a new car and opted by the 90 percent of consumers, safety 88 percent, fuel economy 81 percent and performance is 83 percent. These preferences are constant as previous year. Value factor is decreased from 83 percent of 2013 to 82 percent in 2014. Design or style and technology or innovation have 65 percent in previous year and now increased to 70 percent for design/style and 68 percent for technology/innovation. Now let us see these factors in brand wise.

  • Quality: Toyota, Mercedes Benz, Ford, Chevrolet, and Honda (respectively as per the rankings) are the top five best brands considered by the car owners in 2014. Same brands are in the top five positions in previous year also. But there are some changes in their positions. In 2013 Honda is in first place, Toyota, Mercedes Benz, Ford and Chevrolet are in the order of top five.
  • Safety: For safety, Volvo continues in the top position with sixty percent score. Next to it four in top five are Subaru, Toyota, Ford and Honda. Mercedes Benz has lost its position from top five and Subaru occupied the second position.
  • Performance: The top five brands in the performance are Chevrolet, BMW, Ford, Audi, and Lamborghini. In the previous year, top five are Ferrari, BMW, Chevrolet, Ford, and Honda.
  • Value: Toyota, Honda, Ford and Chevrolet are continued its first, second, third and fifth positions. Car owners prefer Kia and it has come to fourth place in which Hyundai in the previous year.

The scores do not reflect any brand’s vehicle actual qualities, they reflect a brand’s image. Here the word ‘perception’ is influenced by hands on experience, marketing, and word of mouth. The perception is also an indicator that reflecting years of bad or good performance.