ATLANTA – Automakers worldwide spend millions and dedicate untold hours of effort into developing their individual brands along with their products, understanding the phrase ‘perception is reality’ breathes truth when it comes to their customers and how it can impact the bottom line. The way consumers perceive automotive brands has a direct effect on their consideration of the products as they decide which vehicles to research, test drive and ultimately, buy. Recognizing automakers’ outstanding achievements in creating and maintaining brand attributes that earn the attention and enthusiasm of new-car shoppers, Kelley Blue Book, a Cox Automotive company, today announces the 2022 Brand Image Award winners,based on annual new-car consumer perception data. Award categories are calculated among luxury, non-luxury and truck shoppers.  

“Kelley Blue Book Brand Image Award winners lead the pack when it comes to capturing new-car shoppers’ attention,” said Vanessa Ton, senior industry intelligence manager for Kelley Blue Book. “As more automotive brands and new models arrive on the scene each year, the increasingly crowded marketplace provides fresh challenges for product designers and planners and marketers alike. The battle for market share starts with perception and consideration among shoppers, so these winners epitomize which brands are most successful in making a positive impact on their target audience for 2022.”  

2022 Brand Image Award Winners: Non-Luxury Brands 

2022 Brand Image Award Winner: Truck Brand 

2022 Brand Image Award Winners:  Luxury Brands 

For the sixth time in the past nine years, Honda wins Best Overall Brand for 2022 among non-luxury automakers. Honda achieved the highest average score across all ratings of non-luxury models to win the Best Overall Brand. Honda ranks No. 1 in Reputation, Fuel Efficiency, Interior Layout and Technology with help from the Accord, CR-V and Civic. Honda made a resounding comeback with significant technological advancements and its continuous quest to enhance quality at every stage of product development. In addition, Honda takes home the award once again this year for Best Value Brand, an award it impressively has dominated for eight years straight. Beyond considering the Honda brand a great value, non-luxury shoppers also crowned Honda the Most Refined Brand for the third time in the last nine years.    

Meanwhile, Tesla continues to make notable waves in the minds of luxury car shoppers for 2022. Tesla wins Best Overall Luxury Brand for the third year running, achieving the highest average score across all ratings of luxury models to win the award. Tesla launched the Model S Plaid+ trim, which favorably swayed brand perceptions with a zero-to-60 mph time under 1.99 seconds, an impressive jump in range to 520 miles and a revamped head-turning interior design. In addition, Tesla takes home specific awards this year for Best Value Luxury Brand and Most Refined Luxury Brand, claiming both honors for the third year in a row. 

Toyota wins Best Overall Truck Brand in 2022 for the fourth year in a row. Toyota achieved the highest average score across all ratings of truck models and 12 weighted factors of importance. The all-new Tundra made a big splash to the Toyota truck line-up with the i-Force 3.5L Twin-Turbo V6 engine that delivers up to 389 horsepower and a towing capacity of 12,000 pounds.  

Beyond the top overall brands, other automakers gained notable repeat Brand Image Award wins for 2022. Subaru impressively has captured the minds of non-luxury car shoppers as the Most Trusted Brand every year since 2015, and this is the third year in a row that shoppers named Subaru Best Performance Brand – an award it has won six times in the last eight years. Dodge wins Best Car Styling Brand among non-luxury shoppers for the fourth year running. In addition, Porsche returns to the Brand Image Awards winner’s circle this year for Best Car Styling Luxury Brand, won in 2019 and 2021, and Best Performance Luxury Brand, last won in 2019. To round out the 2022 Brand Image Award winners, Lexus once again wins Most Trusted Luxury Brand, an award it has dominated for seven straight years. 

The 2022 Brand Image Awards are based on consumer automotive perception data from Kelley Blue Book’s Brand Watch study. Kelley Blue Book’s 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 among new-car shoppers. For more information about the 2022 Kelley Blue Book Brand Image Awards, visithttps://www.kbb.com/awards/brand-image-awards/.