Companies and Brands

Ford's Reputation Badly Battered

Douglas A. McIntyre

Published: May 23, 2024 6:40 am

24/7 Insights

• Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) rates poorly in the 2024 Axios Harris Poll 100 reputation rankings.
• Electric vehicle struggles may be why its stock has underperformed the market.

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F), reeling from its electric vehicle (EV) failures and a struggling stock price, posted an extraordinarily bad performance in the new 2024 Axios Harris Poll 100 reputation rankings. Most other car brands rated did much better.

The study’s complex methodology involves finding America’s 100 most visible brands. The researchers then create a “reputational quotient” based on nine “dimensions of reputation” (the full methodology is here). Versions of the study have been published since 1999.

The Rankings

Ford ranked 55th on the list with a rating score of 73.6. The highest score among the 100 was Nvidia at 81.2. The lowest score was the Trump Organization at 54.0.

Ford’s score dropped the second most among all brands on the list, tied with Anheuser-Busch (rating of 69.1). Both posted a ranking that dropped 23 positions from the prior survey. Anheuser-Busch fell to the 80th spot among all brands rated. The only company with a worse performance was Starbucks (69.5), whose rank fell 29 places to the 77th position.

The car brand that rated highest was Honda. It took the seventh spot in the rating at 79.3, up six positions from the year before. The second-highest car company was Toyota, with a score of 78.6. Its ranking fell six places to 12th position.

Because the methodology does not describe why each company had the rating it did, that is left to speculation. News about Ford’s withdrawing from the EV business might be a factor. Its stock price is down 1% this year. The S&P 500 is up 11% over the same period. Toyota’s stock price has risen 18% since the start of the year.

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