• by Tanya Gazdik , April 21, 2016

Buick is in good company, joining Tesla, BMW and Lexus as one of the top perceived auto brands, according to YouGov BrandIndex, the brand consumer perception research service.

Electric car manufacturer Tesla Motors has some of the best perception levels in both Millennials and adults 35+ age group demos — but consideration to buy one is a lot smaller.

“Their buzz levels are impressive for a company that really doesn't advertise,” YouGov BrandIndex CEO Ted Marzilli tells Marketing Daily. “If they can get their pricing down as they scale up production, and as the industry expands the infrastructure to support electric cars, they will become a viable option for more and more consumers.”

The disparity in measurements poses a challenge for Tesla and other car makers that have been around a lot longer: how to translate lots of buzz and talk into the actual desire to purchase one.

In Tesla’s case, the lower consideration scores may be driven by a combination of a less developed traditional distribution network and uneven development of an infrastructure to support electric cars, according to YouGov.

BMW is in a similar situation: it is ranked in the top 10 best perceived car brands by both demographic groups, but doesn’t place on either chart for purchase consideration. Lexus presents the same unbalanced scenario with adults 35 and older. Price may be the primary challenge that lowers consideration for these brands.

However, Buick is not a luxury brand and they are stuck in the same quandary.

“Guiding consumers through the purchase journey is challenging, and particularly so in the auto space,” Marzilli says. “A new car is a big ticket item, and auto makers don't typically sell directly to the end consumer, but rather through a dealer network.”

Millennials have effectively “replaced” Tesla and BMW in their top 10 brands for purchase consideration with Hyundai and even crisis-plagued Volkswagen.

Adults 35 and older have an even bigger disparity between the car makers they perceive best and the ones they’d actually consider buying: not only are Tesla and BMW out of their top 10 in purchase consideration, but so are perception high flyers Buick and Lexus. “Replacing” them on the purchase consideration chart are Dodge, GM, Hyundai and Kia.

In addition to Tesla and BMW, seven other top 10 perceived car brands are shared by both demos, including Toyota, Chevrolet, Honda, Nissan, Subaru, Dodge, and Ford. Dodge is on the millennial ranking, while Buick is on the adults 35+ one. Ford perception levels are almost twice as high with the older demo as the younger one. 

YouGov BrandIndex interviewed 18,000 adults 18 and over in the past 12 weeks. The company measured all major car brands with two metrics: for perception, it used Buzz, which asks respondents: "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?"; and Purchase Consideration, which asks respondents is "When you are in the market next to purchase a car, from which of the following brands would you consider purchasing?”