By Jerry Hirsch, Los Angeles Times –
LOS ANGELES — The top car brands seem to be losing their importance in the eyes of consumers as competition across the industry heats up.
For years, Toyota, Ford, and Honda have been the top names in Consumer Reports’ annual Car-Brand Perception Survey. They are still at the top, but they have seen double-digit drops in their scores. That has narrowed the gap between the top names and middle-of-the-road car brands.
“Dramatic events in the automotive industry seem to be affecting how consumers view auto brands,” said Jeff Bartlett, Consumer Reports’ deputy editor for autos online. “It is harder for a single brand to stand out among the competitive field. Many brands are starting to get strong in the qualities we are asking about.”
Consumer Reports’ 2012 Car-Brand Perception Survey measures how consumers perceive each brand in seven categories: safety, quality, value, performance, environmentally friendly/green, design/style, and technology/innovation.
The magazine combines those factors to calculate a total brand-perception score. The scores are a measure of a brand’s image in consumers’ minds but are not meant to reflect issues such as quality, reliability or results from Consumer Reports testing of vehicles.
“Brand perception can be influenced by many things, from professional road tests to marketing. Word of mouth from friends and neighbors can be a slower-moving though influential contributor as ownership transitions from the initial honeymoon phase to the seven-year itch,” Bartlett said.
As in past years, Toyota was ranked at the top for overall brand perception, although it slipped a significant 17 points to 131 points from last year’s survey results.
The decline illustrates the narrowing of brand perception.
Toyota’s score was 96 points more than Hyundai, which ranked 19th and was exactly in the middle of the 38 brands scored this year. A year ago, Toyota scored 147 points, 103 points above Hyundai, also the middle brand last year. And Toyota’s score was down significantly from 196 points in the 2010 rankings.
Bartlett observed that the gap between the top brand this year and No. 10 is 80 points. Last year, it was 97 points.
Other top brands — Ford, Honda and BMW — saw their scores drop more than 20 points. The two leading General Motors brands, Cadillac and Chevrolet, did relatively better with only single-digit decreases.
Brands that score well in Consumer Reports physical tests often lagged in perception scores.
“Acura and Infiniti make good vehicles with many positive attributes, but they just don’t stand out with consumers,” Bartlett said.
The top 10 brands and their scores were Toyota, 131; Ford, 121; Honda, 94; Chevrolet, 92; Mercedes-Benz, 84; BMW, 69; Volvo, 67; Cadillac, 63; Lexus, 54; Tesla, 51.
The 10 lowest brands, starting with the absolute lowest, were Saab, 5 (in bankruptcy and probably going out of business); Fiat, 7; Mini, 7; Mitsubishi, 7; Land Rover, 8; Mercury, 10 (discontinued by Ford and no longer sold); Suzuki, 11; Jeep, 12; Infiniti, 16; Mazda, 16.
