Consumer Reports: A Domestic Ties with Toyota for Best Consumer Perception

In completing its 2011 Car Brand Perception Survey, Consumer Reports discovered that two automakers tied in a statistical dead heat for the top spot with consumers. The publication revealed that a domestic almost knocked Toyota off its pedestal from the top of the rankings.

While Toyota dropped 46 percentage points over the last two years largely due to the recall challenges and acceleration questions surrounding its lineup, Ford is on a roll. Ford climbed 35 percentage points over last two years, building even more momentum since last year’s study.

Consumer Reports’ staff attributes Ford’s success to a model lineup with “improving performance, reliability and styling.”

A year ago, Toyota had a substantial lead over Ford and Honda, which were the No. 2 and No. 3 makes in terms of “strongest or most favorable car brand.”

In 2010, though, Toyota finished only slightly ahead of Ford, which increased its advantage over Honda. Honda apparently continued to lose ground, with Consumer Reports saying the brand slid 28 percentage points since 2008.

The survey scores are designed to reflect how consumers perceive each brand across seven categories, including safety, quality, value performance, design/style, technology/innovation and environmentally friendly/green.

Consumer Reports revealed the top 10 most recognizable brands as:

Toyota: 147

Ford: 144

Honda: 121

Chevrolet: 102

BMW: 93

Mercedes-Benz: 90

Volvo: 84

Lexus: 69

Cadillac: 66

Subaru: 50

The publication noted that Honda and Chevrolet both retained their third and fourth place finishes, while BMW surpassed Volvo and Mercedes-Benz to grab fifth place.

The four brands displaying a double-digit drop in percentage include Toyota (down 49 points), Subaru (down 31 points), Chevrolet (down 22 points) and Lexus (down 11 points). The company also revealed that after jumping 23 points last year, Subaru actually dipped below its 2008 number.

According to Consumer Reports, the most popular new-vehicle buying factors include safety at 65 percent, quality at 57 percent and value at 51 percent. These three categories are the mainstay leaders at the top of the list.

Meanwhile, performance was at 47 percent, environmentally friendly or green was at 28 percent, design or style was at 25 percent and technology or innovation came in at 17 percent.

When it comes to this measurement, Volvo continues to lead the way in consumer perception at 70 percent. It has a significant 50-point advantage over second place Ford (20 percent).

“Without leadership in this factor, Volvo would blend in with second-tier brands in consumers’ minds. Still, Volvo slid a bit in the safety category this year. The movement may be because Volvo has not played the safety drumbeat as loudly as in the past during the transition to new ownership,” officials suggested.

The recall challenges at Toyota have apparently tarnished its gold reputation for quality, according to Consumer Reports. Both Honda at 25 percent and Ford at 23 percent surpassed Toyota’s 19 percent.

Toyota, the prior year’s leader, lost 11 percentage points. The other two top five brands in this category were Chevrolet at 16 percent and Mercedes-Benz at 15 percent.

While Consumer Reports calls “value” subjective, the publication said that car buyers looking to get the most for their money tend to favor Ford, which reached 25 percent. The domestic edged past Honda, which was 24 percent, and Toyota, which was 23 percent, to take the top spot. This is up from its third place finish last year.

“Consistent with elsewhere in the survey, consumers’ perception of Toyota has dropped, while their perception of Ford has risen as Honda pulls in a respectable second-place finish,” officials highlighted.

The five brands leading in this category also include Hyundai at 17 percent and Chevrolet at 15 percent, apparently trading positions from the prior survey.

“The year-to-year movement for most brands in the survey suggests that the rollout of new models and their associated marketing campaigns can affect consumer perception,” according to Consumer Reports.

Not at all surprising, luxury vehicles led the way in this segment, with BMW grabbing first place with 27 percent and Porsche taking second with 21 percent.

“Experiencing a major improvement, climbing 8 percentage points over last year, this year the fifth spot is claimed by Audi (17 percent),” explained Consumer Reports editors. “A growing portfolio with high-performance S-model variants and an R8 supercar flagship is clearly communicating that there is another performance-focused German automaker.”

Continuing on, the publication reported that Ford took home third place with 19 percent, as Toyota fell from the top five.

“Ford’s score has remained unchanged as Toyota has tumbled to 15 percentage points,” officials pointed out. “Toyota’s high scores in past years suggest that survey respondents were reacting to more than track-based performance characteristics in their strong support for the brand. It has been a long time since the Toyota brand had a true performance car.”

Rounding out the top five is Chevrolet at 19 percent, which claimed fourth place.

Though the Chevrolet Volt, Nissan Leaf and other e-cars are getting attention and Americans like the idea of better fuel efficiency, Consumer Reports surmises that, perhaps, due to the economy, consumers are simply not willing to pay a premium for green.

“Consumers are aware that all automakers are striving to improve the fuel economy in their models and expectations are high for the next new-car purchase. This year, the survey shows that leader Toyota (46 percent) and No. 3 Honda (17 percent) no longer own the ‘green’ space. While both companies provide several hybrid models and offer other fuel-efficient vehicles, the competition is making significant strides,” officials said.

“Taking the second spot from Honda is Ford (18 percent). With the Fusion hybrid sedan and by spreading its turbocharged EcoBoost engines across several model ranges, Ford is delivering more power and efficiency than before. Chevrolet (12 percent) remained mostly unchanged year-over-year as it makes its fuel-economy push with the Cruze, Equinox, Volt and upcoming Sonic. The fifth spot was claimed by Scion (9 percent), keeping Subaru out of the top five by a slight margin,” they continued.

Luxury models walked away with top marks in this category.

Up from fifth place last year, BMW (22 percent) took home the top spot, followed by Porsche at 20 percent, Cadillac at 20 percent and Mercedes-Benz at 18 percent.

“Interestingly, Lexus (17 percent) came in at the fifth spot, having dropped 6 percentage points in two years. Cadillac also took a hit, dropping 4 points from last year,” editors noted.

Last year, Toyota posted a number of 17 percent, but this year it came in at 10 percent.

“The drop in perceived styling leadership contributes to that brand’s reduced overall score. Just off our leader chart, Ford claimed 17 percent this year, followed by Chevrolet with 16 percent,” editors reported.

Toyota remained atop its pedestal in this category, but just barely, according to Consumer Reports. The brand dropped 10 points from last year.

Mercedes-Benz, meanwhile, came in at 22 percent; Ford was at 21 percent; Lexus was at 18 percent; and BMW was at 17 percent.  

“It would seem that consumers now take the Prius for granted and potentially are not impressed with the Honda CR-Z and Insight. Ford has inched up this year, with numerous recent innovations to its credit beyond hybrid that include EcoBoost powertrains, the SYNC driver interface system and MyFord Touch touch-screen display,” officials highlighted.

“Lexus and BMW make the list, with each offering powerful, modern powertrains and advanced safety features. Just off this list is Chevrolet at 11 percent. With the upcoming Volt and new models in the pipeline, this is a brand to watch for next year,” editors explained.

Ultimately, Consumer Reports revealed that despite strong efforts on engineering and marketing for high-tech features, Infiniti at 8 percent and Acura at 5 percent, couldn’t match the top contenders in this category.