SANTA BARBARA, Calif., March 24, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Toyota's Perceived Quality Score rose four percent over the last six months and Lexus once again captured the luxury category's highest Perceived Quality rating in 2011, according to the Spring 2011 Perceived Quality Study (PQS) from ALG, a subsidiary of DealerTrack Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: TRAK) and the industry benchmark for residual values and depreciation data.  The study also shows that Land Rover (up 2.5 percent) and Kia (up 5.6 percent) experienced the biggest gains in perception among luxury and mainstream brands respectively.

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"The continued rebound of Toyota is a testament to the brand's solid reputation for quality and ownership loyalty.  Toyota isn't out of the woods yet, however, as the company faces the repercussions of another large recall earlier this year," states Eric Lyman, director, Residual Value Solutions, ALG.  "We also see the success of Land Rover being fueled by the growing popularity of its driver-oriented Range Rover Sport and the Evoque, helping the brand slowly notch perception improvements.  For Kia, the consumer quality recognition is the payoff for a recent revolution in product quality and design supported by aggressive marketing campaigns."

For its PQS, ALG surveys approximately 3,000-4,000 U.S. consumers twice a year to gauge perceptions of a number of luxury and mainstream automotive brands.  According to Lyman, "Perception is a powerful force in consumer buying behavior.  Our PQS has become the barometer by which the automotive retail industry measures consumer perceptions and beliefs.  A negative perception can dramatically affect a brand's entire lineup, while a positive perception can boost sales tremendously."

Additional highlights from the survey include: in the luxury category, Lexus topped the charts with an overall PQS of 83 (out of 100) followed by Mercedes (82.7 and -1.4 percent vs. the Fall 2010 Study), BMW (80.2; +1.7 percent), Porsche (79.7; - 0.6 percent) and Acura (78.1; +0.9 percent).  Honda (81.2; -0.2 percent) once again led the mainstream brands and Toyota (73.5; +4.0 percent) rebounded from a firestorm of negative publicity early last year to finish the year strong.  Ford Trucks (71.2; +1.9 percent), Subaru (70.6; +2.5 percent) and Nissan (69.8; +1.2 percent) finished third, fourth and fifth, respectively, in the mainstream category.

The complete list with scores and details is available at: https://www.alg.com/pdf/pqs_2011_spring.pdf

About ALG (www.alg.com)

Based in Santa Barbara, California, ALG is a leading provider of data and consulting services to the automotive industry.  ALG publishes the "Automotive Lease Guide" – the standard for residual value projections in North America, and has been forecasting automotive residual values for over 45 years in both the U.S. and Canadian markets.  ALG is a company of DealerTrack Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: TRAK).

About DealerTrack (www.dealertrack.com/)

DealerTrack's intuitive and high-value software solutions and services enhance efficiency and profitability for all major segments of the retail automotive industry, including dealers, lenders, OEMs, agents and aftermarket providers.  The Company, whose solution set for dealers is the industry's most comprehensive, operates the largest online credit application network in the United States, connecting approximately 17,000 dealers with more than 1,000 lenders. DealerTrack's Dealer Management System (DMS) provides dealers with easy-to-use tools and real-time data access to enhance their efficiency, while DealerTrack AAX delivers the inventory management tools and services needed to accelerate used-vehicle turn rate and help increase profits for dealers.  The Company's Sales and F&I solutions allow dealers to streamline the entire sales process as they structure deals from a single integrated platform, while also giving dealerships the ability to leverage vehicle registration and titling services through DealerTrack.  Its Compliance Solution helps dealers meet legal and regulatory requirements and protect their assets. For lenders, DealerTrack's Processing Solutions offers services including titling, collateral management, and digital document services. DealerTrack's family of companies also includes data and consulting service providers ALG and Chrome Systems. For more information, visit www.dealertrack.com.

Safe Harbor for Forward-Looking and Cautionary Statements

Statements in this press release regarding the ALG PQS are forward-looking statements (as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995).  These statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements of DealerTrack to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.

Factors that might cause such a difference include the accuracy of the PQS results and other risks listed in our reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010. These filings can be found on DealerTrack's website at www.dealertrack.com and the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Forward-looking statements included herein speak only as of the date hereof and DealerTrack disclaims any obligation to revise or update such statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events or circumstances.

TRAK-G

SOURCE DealerTrack Holdings, Inc.