Kelley Blue Book has announced the 2020 Brand Image Award winners, with Tesla taking in most of the awards in the luxury brand categories and Subaru leading the non-luxury brands.
The awards are meant to recognize outstanding achievements from OEMs in creating and maintaining brand attributes that are compelling to new-car buyers. It’s based on annual new-car buyer perception data, with categories considered for 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.
She adds that the Kelley Blue Book Brand Image Award winners are meant to recognize the automakers “who are on top of their game in the minds of new-car shoppers.”
In the Non-Luxury Brands category, Subaru took in the most wins, with Best Overall Brand, Most Trusted Brand, and Best Performance Brand. Honda won in the Best Value Brand, GMC in the Most Refined Brand category, and Dodge in the Best Car Styling Brand category.
In the Truck Brand category, Toyota was the big winner for the second consecutive year with the Best Overall Truck Brand award.
“Toyota achieved the highest average score across all ratings of truck models and 12 weighted factors of importance,” said Kelley Blue Book. “Even as truck shopping soared to new heights 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.”
In the Luxury Brands category, Tesla took in five wins: Best Overall Luxury Brand, Best Value Luxury Brand, Most Refined Luxury Brand, Best Performance Luxury Brand, and Best Car Styling Luxury Brand. Lexus won the Most Trusted Luxury Brand award.
“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,” said Kelley Blue Book.
For the complete breakdown of award winners, see below: 
