Subaru, Lexus are the car brands consumers trust most
Kelley Blue Book has announced the winners of its 2016 Brand Awards, which recognize the automakers with the best reputations among consumers.
In the non-luxury category, Subaru bested the competition by winning three awards: Best Overall Brand, Most Trusted Brand and Best Performing Brand.
Meanwhile, Lexus outshone other luxury vehicles by winning the Best Overall Luxury Brand and Most Trusted Luxury Brand awards.
The awards are based on data from 12,000 in-market new-vehicle shoppers surveyed by Kelley Blue Book. The study evaluated each brand based on average scores among 12 key factors: affordability, driving comfort, driving performance, durability/reliability, exterior styling, fuel efficiency, interior layout, prestige/sophistication, reputation, ruggedness, safety and technology.
The triple crowning was significant for Subaru, a popular vehicle brand in New England. Hwei-Lin Oetken, vice president of KBB’s strategic insights, said the award sweep reveals an “interesting shift in consumer perceptions’’ for the brand.
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“[Subaru] won their first-ever Brand Image Awards last year, and now this year they swept the major categories of Best Overall Brand, Most Trusted Brand and Best Performance Brand,’’ said Oetken. “Consumers undoubtedly are taking serious notice of Subaru.’’
This year, Subaru beat Honda in the Best Overall Brand category. Honda previously won in this segment from 2013 to 2015.
But it wasn’t a total loss for Honda. The Japanese automaker won the Best Value Brand.
Meanwhile, Lexus outperformed last year’s winner Porsche to take the Best Overall Luxury Brand award. Lexus also took the Most Trusted Brand award after losing in the category to Mercedes-Benz last year.
Porsche won for Best Performance Luxury Brand while Mercedes-Benz won in the Most Refined Luxury Brand category.
Ford won the Best Overall Truck Brand award for the third year in a row.
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