IRVINE, Calif., April 1, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2015 Brand Image Award winners, based on annual new-car buyer perception data, are announced today by Kelley Blue Book, www.kbb.com, the only vehicle valuation and information source trusted and relied upon by both consumers and the automotive industry.  The Kelley Blue Book Brand Image Awards recognize automakers' outstanding achievements in creating and maintaining brand attributes that capture the attention and enthusiasm of the new-vehicle buying public.  Award categories are calculated among luxury, non-luxury and truck shoppers. 

"The classic saying 'perception is reality' rings true with the Kelley Blue Book Brand Image Awards, as more than 12,000 in-market new-car shoppers have voiced their opinions about today's automakers to determine this year's award winners," said Hwei-Lin Oetken, vice president of market intelligence for Kelley Blue Book.  "With strong product lineups and compelling marketing communications coming from auto manufacturers, along with the increased importance of peer reviews and ratings, consumers today are more influenced than ever to take interest in a brand, ultimately affecting their vehicle purchase decisions."

For three years running, Honda has been named the Best Overall Brand, securing the highest average scores among all 12 Brand Watch factors, including affordability, "cool" factor, driving comfort, driving performance, durability/reliability, exterior styling, fuel efficiency, interior layout, prestige/sophistication, reputation, ruggedness and safety (factors listed in alphabetical order).  Strong consumer perception of the Accord, Civic, CR-V and Odyssey helped drive Honda's success in once again earning the top honor among all automakers.  In addition to its Best Overall Brand win, this year Honda also recaptures Best Value Brand for 2015, after Kia won it last year.  Honda also won Best Value Brand three previous times from 2011 – 2013. 

For 2015, Porsche captured the Best Overall Luxury Brand title from last year's winner Mercedes-Benz by obtaining the top average Brand Watch factor scores among all luxury makes and being highly regarded with its strong lineup, driven primarily by its popular 911, Panamera, Cayenne and Boxster models.  In addition, Porsche dominates the majority of the specific Luxury brand categories for 2015, also winning Most Refined Luxury Brand, Best Performance Luxury Brand and Best Luxury Car Styling Brand.  Also overtaking Mercedes-Benz for the Most Refined Luxury Brand win for the first time since the award's inception, Porsche received strong ratings for its Panamera, Cayenne S Hybrid and 911.  Porsche holds on to its Best Performance Luxury Brand award for the fifth year on the above-average ratings for its entire lineup.  Porsche also reclaimed its title this year from Jaguar for Best Luxury Car Styling Brand with three of its models, the 911, Boxster and Panamera, being among the top six highest-rated models in this category.    

Claiming the top spot among truck shoppers for the second year in a row, Ford wins the Best Overall Truck Brand category.  Ford has won six out of seven times Kelley Blue Book has announced this award.  The F-150 and Super Duty F-250 and F-350 helped the manufacturer earn the award for 2015, as truck shoppers ranked the brand highest among all other truck brands.

Subaru wins its first-ever Kelley Blue Book Brand Image Awards this year, being named Most Trusted Brand and Best Performance Brand with help from the highly rated Impreza, Outback, BRZ and Forester models.  Subaru is taking the crown for Most Trusted Brand from longtime winner Honda, and it bested last year's Best Performance Brand winner MINI to come out on top for 2015.  Subaru has experienced massive success in Kelley Blue Book's 2015 model-year awards, also winning the top overall brand title for both the 2015 Best Resale Value Awards and 2015 5-Year Cost to Own Awards, in addition to many model-specific accolades.

Meanwhile, among luxury automakers Mercedes-Benz wins Most Trusted Luxury Brand for 2015, uprooting the winner from 2013 – 2014, Lexus.  Mercedes-Benz has won a Brand Image Award every year since the inception of the program in 2008.

Mazda makes its Brand Image Awards debut as 2015's Best Car Styling Brand, driven by the MX-5 Miata, MAZDA6 and MAZDA3. 

Buick is a repeat winner for the Best Value Luxury Brand, and the manufacturer's entire lineup, including the LaCrosse, Regal, Verano, Enclave and Encore, has positively influenced car shoppers' perceptions. 

Benefiting from its upscale Denali trim models, GMC wins its second Brand Image Award in a row as this year's Most Refined Brand, with high ratings for comfort, interior layout, technology and prestige/sophistication.

The 2015 Brand Image Awards are based on consumer automotive perception data from Kelley Blue Book Market Intelligence's Brand Watch study.  Brand Watch is an online brand and model perception tracking study tapping into 12,000+ in-market new-vehicle shoppers annually on Kelley Blue Book's KBB.com.  The highly comprehensive study offers insight into how shoppers perceive important factors driving their purchase decisions, and captures brand/model familiarity and loyalty among new-car shoppers.

For more information about the 2015 Kelley Blue Book Brand Image Awards, please visit http://www.kbb.com/new-cars/brand-image-awards/.

To discuss this topic or any other automotive-related information with a Kelley Blue Book analyst on-camera via the company's on-site studio, please contact a member of the Public Relations team to book an interview.

For more information and news from Kelley Blue Book's KBB.com, visit www.kbb.com/media/, follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/kelleybluebook (or @kelleybluebook), like our page on Facebook at www.facebook.com/kbb, and get updates on Google+ at https://plus.google.com/+kbb/.

About Kelley Blue Book (www.kbb.com)
Founded in 1926, Kelley Blue Book, The Trusted Resource®, is the only vehicle valuation and information source trusted and relied upon by both consumers and the automotive industry.  Each week the company provides the most market-reflective values in the industry on its top-rated website KBB.com, including its famous Blue Book® Trade-In Values and Fair Purchase Price, which reports what others are paying for new and used cars this week.  The company also provides vehicle pricing and values through various products and services available to car dealers, auto manufacturers, finance and insurance companies, and governmental agencies.  Kelley Blue Book's KBB.com ranked highest in its category for brand equity by the 2014 Harris Poll EquiTrend^® study and has been named Online Auto Shopping Brand of the Year for three consecutive years.  Kelley Blue Book Co., Inc. is a Cox Automotive company.

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