Subaru has dominated the 2016 Kelley Blue Book Brand Image Awards.
The Japanese automaker was named Best Overall Brand, Most Trusted Brand and Best Performance Brand in the annual new-car buyer perception study. The Kelley Blue Book Brand Image Awards recognize automakers’ outstanding achievements in creating and maintaining brand attributes that capture the attention and enthusiasm of new-car shoppers.
Honda was named Best Value Brand, while GMC received an award for Most Refined Brand. Chrysler was the other automaker to get an award for non-luxury brands, claiming the Best Car Styling Brand category.
From 2013-2015, Honda previously dominated the non-luxury category.
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Ford continued its reign as the Best Overall Truck Brand, having won seven out of eight times. Toyota once outranked Ford in 2013.
For luxury brands, Lexus won Best Overall and Most Trusted, while Buick received Best Value. Mercedes-Benz also took home honors with Most Refined and Porsche received an award for Best Performance. Lastly, Jaguar was named the Best Car Styling Luxury Brand.
“The classic saying ‘perception is reality’ rings true with the Kelley Blue Book Brand Image Awards, as more than 12,000 in-market new-car shoppers have voiced their opinions about today’s automakers to determine this year’s award winners,” said Hwei-Lin Oetken, vice president of strategic insights for Kelley Blue Book. “With strong product lineups and compelling marketing communications coming from auto manufacturers, consumers are more influenced than ever to take interest in a brand, ultimately affecting their vehicle purchase decisions. We’ve seen an interesting shift in consumer perception of Subaru over the last few years. They 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. Consumers undoubtedly are taking serious notice of Subaru.”
