Tesla Nearly Sweeps Luxury Brand Categories; Subaru Leads Non-Luxury Brands

IRVINE, Calif., April 8, 2020 – Automotive brands resonate with shoppers worldwide with appealing attributes like reputation, design and more. Few products are more ubiquitous in our day-to-day lives than the automobile, and successful automakers who win the hearts and minds of car shoppers could benefit by selling more cars and increasing profits in the long run. Recognizing automakers’ outstanding achievements in creating and maintaining brand attributes that earn the attention and enthusiasm of new-car buyers, Kelley Blue Book today announces the 2020 Brand Image Award winners, based on annual new-car buyer perception data. Award categories are calculated among luxury, non-luxury and truck shoppers.

“Building brands that leave positive impressions with car shoppers is of the utmost importance to automakers who wish to stand out and succeed in an increasingly crowded marketplace,” said Isabelle Helms, vice president of research and market intelligence for Cox Automotive. “Delivering products that are compelling to shoppers, backed by solid marketing communications, has proven to influence purchase considerations and outcomes. Kelley Blue Book Brand Image Award winners recognize the automakers who are on top of their game in the minds of new-car shoppers.”

2020 Brand Image Award Winners: Non-Luxury Brands

2020 Brand Image Award Winner: Truck Brand

2020 Brand Image Award Winners:  Luxury Brands

For 2020, Subaru wins Best Overall Brand among non-luxury automakers for the third time in the past five years. Subaru achieved the highest average score across all ratings of non-luxury models to win the Best Overall Brand. In addition, Subaru takes home specific awards this year for Most Trusted Brand and Best Performance Brand. Subaru’s wins are based on the automaker’s reputation for delivering safe, spacious, fuel-efficient vehicles that satisfy the needs of both everyday consumers and those seeking increased utility/performance at the right price point.

Among luxury automakers, Tesla is all-new to the winners’ circle this year with an impressive showing, nearly sweeping the luxury award categories for 2020. Tesla wins Best Overall Luxury Brand, achieving the highest average score across all ratings of luxury models to win the Best Overall Luxury Brand. In addition, Tesla takes home specific awards this year for Best Value Luxury Brand, Most Refined Luxury Brand, Best Performance Luxury Brand and Best Car Styling Luxury Brand. Tesla’s sleek, all-electric designs offer the market a fresh look, and the brand’s work to offer innovative technology for luxury vehicle consumers at a desirable cost has paid off accordingly with overwhelmingly positive car-shopper perceptions. In addition, Tesla has long been a leader on electric vehicle batteries, for years seeming to have a significantly lower cost for batteries than other OEMs.

Toyota wins Best Overall Truck Brand for the second year in a row. Toyota achieved the highest average score across all ratings of truck models and 12 weighted factors of importance. Even as truck shopping soared to new heights in 2019 and several new models entered the market, the Tacoma and Tundra held their own and propelled Toyota to win the Best Overall Truck Brand award.

Beyond the top overall brands, other automakers gained notable repeat Brand Image Award wins for 2020. Honda wins Best Value Brand among non-luxury automakers for the sixth consecutive year, and Lexus wins Most Trusted Luxury Brand for the fifth consecutive year. Dodge wins Best Car Styling Brand among non-luxury automakers for the second consecutive year.

The 2020 Brand Image Awards are based on consumer automotive perception data from Kelley Blue Book Brand Watch study. Brand Watch is an online brand and model perception tracking study, which taps into more than 12,000 in-market new-vehicle shoppers annually on KBB.com. The highly comprehensive study offers insight into how shoppers perceive important factors driving their purchase decisions and captures brand/model familiarity and loyalty among new-car shoppers. For more information about the 2020 Kelley Blue Book Brand Image Awards, visit https://www.kbb.com/articles/awards/brand-image-awards/.

If you are looking for a vehicle at this time, many dealers can accommodate your buying needs—shopping from your couch or having an advisor just a text or phone call away. Check out the latest on how to shop for your next vehicle online at https://www.kbb.com/articles/car-news/can-i-buy-a-car-online-to-reduce-coronavirus-exposure/.

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About Kelley Blue Book (www.kbb.com)
Founded in 1926, Kelley Blue Book, The Trusted Resource®, is the vehicle valuation and information source trusted and relied upon by both consumers and the automotive industry. Each week the company provides market-reflective values on its top-rated website KBB.com, including its famous Blue Book® Trade-In Values and Kelley Blue Book® Price Advisor tool, which provides a range for what consumers can reasonably expect to pay for a vehicle in their area. Car owners looking to sell immediately can also get a redeemable, transaction-ready offer with Kelley Blue BookSM Instant Cash Offer. The company also provides vehicle pricing and values through various products and services available to car dealers, auto manufacturers, finance and insurance companies, and governmental agencies. Kelley Blue Book is a Cox Automotive brand.

About Cox Automotive

Cox Automotive Inc. makes buying, selling, owning and using cars easier for everyone. The global company’s 34,000-plus team members and family of brands, including Autotrader®, Clutch Technologies, Dealer.com®, Dealertrack®, Kelley Blue Book®, Manheim®, NextGear Capital®, VinSolutions®, vAuto® and Xtime®, are passionate about helping millions of car shoppers, 40,000 auto dealer clients across five continents and many others throughout the automotive industry thrive for generations to come. Cox Automotive is a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises Inc., a privately-owned, Atlanta-based company with revenues of $21 billion. www.coxautoinc.com

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