SANTA MONICA, Calif. -

Eric Lyman, director of residual value solutions for ALG, emphasized that the perceived quality of the alternative-fuel vehicles in an automaker’s lineup is strongly tied to how consumers view that brand overall.

As such, he said, perhaps it’s not a shock that the top Perceived Quality Study score among alternative-fuel brands went to Lexus, which also garnered the highest PQS among overall brands.

According to ALG’s Fall 2011 Perceived Quality Study, Lexus’ alternative-fuel PQS score was 89.8 out of 100. Next on the list was Mercedes-Benz, which scored an 88.8. Porsche came in third (86.7), BMW was fourth (86.7) and Honda was fifth (85.6).

“We see there’s a very high correlation between the ranking in the alternative-fuel category relative to that mainstream category,” Lyman told Auto Remarketing in a recent interview. “I think it really just comes down to the long-term reputation of Lexus building quality products and having high actual quality.

“There are a few brands where there is a variance in that actual quality and the perception of quality, but the idea is that as customers get more exposure to those products and become more familiar, that perception should align itself more closely with what actual quality is in the market,” he continued.

That sentiment, then, explains why some of the alternative fuel-only companies had such low PQS scores.

In fact, the highest ranked was Tesla, which achieved a PQS of 69.5 and came in at No. 14 out of 32 brands.

“Telsa’s relatively low ranking against brands that also produce traditional gasoline powered vehicles, along with low rankings for primarily alternative fuel brands overall, is likely due to the fact that these manufacturers are less well known and have not yet established a solid reputation with the public,” Lyman explained.

All but one of the bottom 12 spots in the PQS rankings went to alternative-fuel brands.

But again, it goes back to consumer awareness. These brands are getting such low scores essentially because consumers don’t know much about them, if anything at all.

As part of a survey, ALG asked consumers about their awareness of the brands. Just 50 percent said they aware of Tesla, Lyman told Auto Remarketing. The remaining brands — including Fisker, which had brand awareness of 8 percent — were all below 10 percent.

“So it continues to be the No. 1 issue for the brands. And obviously if you’re not familiar with a brand, you’re not going to be too aggressive on the assumption of the quality in a positive way. That’s going to definitely impact that score overall,” he said.

Tesla stands out from the pack, though, as it came into the market in 2008 and has what Lyman called “high-profile” leadership and clientele helping boost its awareness.

In order for alternative-fuel brands to increase their awareness, they have to bring their cars to market first, and then roll out marketing campaigns, Lyman said.

Fisker, for example, has begun car deliveries and is going on a national road show, he added. It should see a lift in awareness with this ramped-up marketing.

More on Overall Rankings

Delving further into the rankings, Honda achieved the highest PQS among non-luxury brands (85.6) and was followed by Toyota (82.4), which placed seventh on the list.

The highest rated Big 3 brand was Ford, which earned a score of 72.5 and came in at No. 11, one spot ahead of Lincoln (72.1), which tied with Volkswagen.

The only other Big 3 brand on the list was Chevrolet, which had a PQS of 57.7 and ranked 19th.