• November 9, 2011

Toyota’s perceived quality score rose more than 2% over the last six months closing the gap with leading mainstream brand Honda, and Lexus is back on top, per the Fall 2011 Perceived Quality Study from TrueCar's ALG subsidiary.

The firm does a semiannual survey of 3,000-4,000 U.S. consumers to gauge perceptions of a number of mainstream and luxury automotive brands. Of the 23 brands included in the Fall 2008 survey that remain in the survey today, Ford brands Kia and Hyundai are showing the biggest long-term gains. 

Hyundai led the group -- moving from 18th place to 9th place, a gain of nine spots over the past three years. Ford Cars and Ford Trucks moved from 15th to 7th and 8th to 3rd place, respectively, and Kia jumped from 23rd place in 2008 (last place among those still in the survey) to 18th place.

Lexus had a perceived quality score of 82.4 (out of 100) followed by Mercedes (79.8 and -3.9% vs. the Spring 2011 Study), BMW (78.4; -2.5%), Porsche (76.7; -4%) and Acura (76.3; -2.6%).  

Honda (78.9; -2.5%) led the mainstream brands and Toyota (75.3; +2.3%) is on the mend. Ford Trucks (68.7; -3.8%), Subaru (68.3; -3.5%), and Nissan (67.6; -3.4%) round out the top five.