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Ford Best-Perceived Brand...

Joe Dirt

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LOS ANGELES -- Ford, Honda and Chevrolet are the three best-perceived automotive brands of 2011, according to a YouGov/BrandIndex survey of American consumers.

Although Toyota had been the perennial chart-topper, last year it fell to third-from-worst during the recall crisis, trailing only Chrysler and Hummer. This year, Toyota staged the largest improvement of any brand, but it still remains outside the top 10. The Lexus brand also recovered somewhat.

The rescue and recovery of Chrysler Group led the Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep brands to see a strong image rebound, but they are still middle of the pack overall.

BrandIndex conducts nearly 1.2 million interviews of a representative sample of the U.S. population. Respondents were asked, "If you've heard anything about the brand in the last two weeks, through advertising, news or word of mouth, was it positive or negative?" The interviews were conducted in the first half of 2011.

YouGov said its BrandIndex's measurement scores range from 100 to -100 and are compiled by subtracting negative feedback from positive. A zero score means equal positive and negative feedback.



Highest Ranking

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Most Improved

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Awesome!
 






Branding is important.
 






I just read within the last week that Ford dropped like 11 places due to the recent problems with three of its current lineup. One of the lineup was the new Explorer, another was, I believe, the new Fiesta, and I forget the 3rd. Either way, perception can be misleading. Ford gained a lot by not taking government bail-out money, which I agree is great, but there are still a lot of people with the attitude, "I had a Pinto 30 years ago, and it was the worst car ever, therefore, I'm never buying a Ford again". Yet, these same people would buy a Toyota or Honda since, "Every now and again, a car can have problems". Either way, I come from a family of Ford employee's, so I may be biased, but still, one very bad experience and most would switch brands. The price of a vehicle now a days is ridiculous, and although quite complex, we work hard and expect our problems to be taken care of. Anyway, I wouldn't change my brand preference over a bad experience, but I would change my dealer or store since it is those "front-line" workers that can tarnish the "whole brand".
 






I come from a Ford family (therefore I have X/Z plan discounts as needed) and I've owned several Fords, plus Honda, Acura, Toyota, Lexus, Mercedes, Porsche, GM, Jag vehicles. I am not very biased when it comes to cars. In the end product is what puts modern car companies on top.
 






I wonder how much the fact that Ford took no government bailout money has influenced their #1 ranking.
 






I wonder how much the fact that Ford took no government bailout money has influenced their #1 ranking.

Speaks volumes about the quality of the company anyhow. :thumbsup:
 






Speaks volumes about the quality of the company anyhow. :thumbsup:

Not taking handouts does speak volumes for Ford. I think this helps their brand identity. I am not taking anything away from their vehicles by stating this as I have driven Fords most of my life and think they are consistently some of the best designed cars on the road.
 






In the end product is what puts modern car companies on top
Not to start a fighting match, but products of any industry is what puts that company on top. These days, there is so much more competition, so much more complicated design/technology, so much more exposure with the internet, etc., that a company of any sort is like an actor/actress -- only as good as their last release. I do agree with some of the comments above about producing quality. I think Ford has learned from some of their old mistakes about quality over quantity of sales. Look at Toyota and the fall-out from runaway vehicles and some of their other issues.
 






Not to start a fighting match, but products of any industry is what puts that company on top. These days, there is so much more competition, so much more complicated design/technology, so much more exposure with the internet, etc., that a company of any sort is like an actor/actress -- only as good as their last release. .

Exactly the point, top notch products (with consistency) will keep a brand at top.
 






I wonder how much the fact that Ford took no government bailout money has influenced their #1 ranking.

This statement is simply not true. It is true that Ford did not take government money when GM and Chrysler took bailout money. But Ford has taken plenty of government money. Google it, takes less than 5-minutes to dispell this rumor.
 






I think the general consensus is that the public resonates with the "no bailout" thing when talking about the giant bailout package that was given to GM and Chrysler that Ford did not take. Not nitpicking if any company has ever taken money, because any company can be argued to have taken money at some time. We're not nitpicking.
 






You know the real story is how Ford was able to survive without the bailout. As I understand, around 2006, Ford hit the recession wall before GM and Chrysler. They basically did what what GM and Chrysler did to survive, UAW contracts and a bunch of money from the Ford family. A Ford family member (I do not recall who) took over as the CEO without pay. They did what they had to do to survive.

It seems to me a fordhead that the story is how Ford motors reorginized and without government intervention. They were almost toast. I dont really care about the other two I like Fords. I see a sense of pride, not because of what someone else did, but of what Ford Motors and the Ford family did.
 






That plus mortgaging everything they had including all of their factories and even the logo- to get the cash needed to survive at a lower interest rate was a very wise move also.
 






Wise because it worked. We can also call it ballsy (politically incorrect).
Didn't they sell Volvo and Land Rover to raise cash?
 






I'd rather be lucky than good... :D

Yep- divested other brands to shrink their core focus and raise cash. They'll need it to fix MFT, I doubt the chart in the first post would even look like that right now. :)
 






This statement is simply not true. It is true that Ford did not take government money when GM and Chrysler took bailout money. But Ford has taken plenty of government money. Google it, takes less than 5-minutes to dispell this rumor.

Ford Credit sold some of their loans they were holding to the government but the financing entities of most auto companies (Toyota, BMW, GMAC etc.) did the same thing to free up capital. The government will get the money back they used to buy the notes as the loans are paid back. In fact, the government might even make a profit if they just paid off the principle value of the loans to the automakers.

I am not aware of them taking taxpayer money for the same reason GM and Chrysler did in 2009 to keep their manufacturing operations from going bankrupt. If they did then I would like to see a link.
 






You know the real story is how Ford was able to survive without the bailout. As I understand, around 2006, Ford hit the recession wall before GM and Chrysler. They basically did what what GM and Chrysler did to survive, UAW contracts and a bunch of money from the Ford family. A Ford family member (I do not recall who) took over as the CEO without pay. They did what they had to do to survive.

It seems to me a fordhead that the story is how Ford motors reorginized and without government intervention. They were almost toast. I dont really care about the other two I like Fords. I see a sense of pride, not because of what someone else did, but of what Ford Motors and the Ford family did.

Ford also liquidated a lot of their holdings and secured a line of credit before the credit crunch occurred in 2009. They recognized their situation and took steps to correct it. GM and Chrysler did nothing even though they were worse off than Ford but then GM has been doing this for decades. I figured Chrysler was circling the bowl when Mercedes dumped them in a fire sale. Now they are Fiat's problem and when the bailout money is gone, GM and Chrysler will be in the same hole they were in in 2009 but there will not be another bailout for them. The anchor around GM's and Chyrsler's necks is even heavier now that the UAW owns 20% of each which was bought, and paid for, by our tax dollars. I will never own a Chrysler or GM vehicle again.
 






I would never say never, but after Ford has stopped making Rangers and emasculated Explorers my choices have become very limited.
 



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Ford still makes real top-selling F series trucks for those that need them thankfully.

Btw happy thanksgiving to all!
 






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