Honda, Porsche Win Car Brand Awards

By Paul Ausick Updated Apr 27, 11:06PM EDT · Published Apr 1, 8:10AM EDT

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Automakers will be reporting March sales throughout the morning Tuesday, and the analysts at Kelley Blue Book (KBB) have issued their 2015 Brand Image award winners to coincide with those announcements. In the non-luxury segment, the top brand overall was Honda Motor Co. Ltd. (NYSE: HMC). In the luxury segment, Porsche took the top honor, and in the truck segment, Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) posted the best overall brand.

KBB surveyed more than 12,000 in-market, new-car shoppers to determine the winners. The awards recognize automakers’ outstanding achievements in creating and maintaining brand attributes that capture the attention and enthusiasm of the new-vehicle buying public. Consumers were asked to rank auto brands on 12 Brand Watch factors.

Honda claimed the top spot in the non-luxury brand segment for the third year in a row. KBB noted the brand’s “strong consumer perception of the Accord, Civic, CR-V, and Odyssey as the keys to the brand’s success.” Honda captured the highest scores on all 12 of KBB’s Brand Watch factors, consisting of affordability, “cool” factor, driving comfort, driving performance, durability/reliability, exterior styling, fuel efficiency, interior layout, prestige/sophistication, reputation, ruggedness and safety.

Porsche, a division of Volkswagen, displaced Mercedes-Benz as the best overall luxury brand. The brand’s 911, Panamera, Cayenne and Boxster models led the way to the top ranking. Porsche topped the best performance category for the fifth straight year.

For the sixth of seven years, Ford won the best truck segment. The company’s F-150, Super Duty F-250 and F-350 all contributed to the brand’s top ranking.

The best value award among the luxury brands went to Buick from General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM). The LaCrosse, Regal, Verano, Enclave and Encore models boosted the brand to a repeat win in this category.

For the first time since the awards were initiated, Subaru topped the non-luxury segment in both most trusted brand and best performance brand. The maker of the Impreza, Outback, BRZ and Forester displaced long-time winner Honda for the most trusted brand and last year’s performance winner Mini from BMW.

Neither Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) nor Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (NYSE: FCAU) won an image award this year.

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About the Author Paul Ausick →

Paul Ausick has been writing for a673b.bigscoots-temp.com for more than a decade. He has written extensively on investing in the energy, defense, and technology sectors. In a previous life, he wrote technical documentation and managed a marketing communications group in Silicon Valley.

He has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Chicago and now lives in Montana, where he fishes for trout in the summer and stays inside during the winter.