Car Perception Not Always Reality

Consumers perceive Toyota and Honda brands to be best, according to Consumer Reports’  2008 Car Brand Perception Survey.

CR found the two Japanese nameplates ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in consumer minds when it comes to safety, quality, value, performance, environmental friendliness, design and technical innovation. 

The study of how consumers perceive and rank car brands found Toyota ranked No. 1 by a wide margin. 

But the study was of perceptions, “which shouldn’t be confused with reality”, said John Bulcroft, a former Audi and Porsche marketing executive who is now with The Advisory Group, a Cresskill, N.J., company that deals with consumer perceptions.

“Perceptions often lag reality, and that’s the case with Toyota in the last 12 to 18 months as several issues regarding quality have come up,” he said.

“I conducted a totally unscientific, seat-of-the-pants survey of consumers who recently bought Toyotas, and they said they were unhappy. This [CR study] shows perception lags actuality, and Toyota is still perceived as top dog in quality.

“It takes a long time to build a perception of quality, but only a short time to undo it, and thanks to word of mouth and even blogs, when it happens, it happens fast and only takes a short time to undo those perceptions.”

Consumer Reports noted, for example, that while Toyota was ranked No. 1 in quality — one of the seven categories measured for perceptions — in a recent study on predicted reliability and how cars really perform long term, Toyota slipped from No. 1 to No. 5.

“That’s the reality I’m talking about,” Bulcroft said. “It takes a long time to build up favorable perceptions, but perceptions can drop fast.”

So does it bode well for the domestics that Ford, Chevy and GMC were ranked third, fourth and fifth behind the Japanese?

While such recognition is positive, “Like I said, it takes a long time to build up a favorable perception, and Detroit shot itself in the foot so badly years ago that it still will take some time to build it up again,” Bulcroft said.