God I hate car awards—except for ours, of course. Nine times out of ten, the fix is in. The tenth time, the methodology is Claritin clear anti-matter. Well, at least ForbesAutos isn’t making those stupid “10 Best Cars in Which To Perform a Bris” lists anymore. Anyway, here’s KBB’s most recent contribution to the genre, which names Cadillac as the Best Comfort Food—I mean, brand. And Toyota scoops the award for Least Exciting Brand That Everyone Buys Anyway Probably Because It IS So Boring (i.e., Best Value Brand). Full list after you contemplate the ability of the English language to obfuscate while pretending to offer specificity.
The 2009 Brand Image Awards, presented to the top brands in 10 categories, are based on consumer automotive perception data from Kelley Blue Book Market Research’s Brand Watch study. Brand Watch is an online brand perception tracking study tapping into 12,000+ in-market new-vehicle shoppers annually on Kelley Blue Book’s kbb.com. The highly comprehensive Brand Watch report provides a detailed look at in-market new-vehicle shoppers’ perceptions of brands, and important factors driving their purchase decisions while they are in the midst of the shopping process. The results of an entire year of Brand Watch research and consumer opinions determine the 2009 Kelley Blue Book Brand Image Award winners.
Best Value Brand: Toyota
Coolest Brand: BMW
Most Family-Friendly Brand: Toyota
Most Rugged Truck Brand: Ford
Best Performance Brand: BMW
Best Comfort Brand: Cadillac
Best Exterior Design Brand – Luxury: BMW
Best Exterior Design Brand – Non-Luxury: Nissan
Best Interior Design Brand: Cadillac
Best Prestige Brand: Mercedes-Benz
Really?
Anyone else find it funny that the embedded advert in “Most Rugged Truck Brand” leads to the Dodge Ram 1500?
Best interior design – Cadillac??
Hmmm….
While I am learning to pay very little attention to car magazine awards, or top ten lists of any kind..
This strikes me as WTF moment.
Since when did KBB start giving a damn about “Exterior styling”. “Exterior styling” is subjective so placing a barometer on something where the target is always moving doesnt make sense.
Interesting to note that Honda isnt present, neither is GM or Chrysler to name a few.
As far as cool.. I would have thought they’d go ape for VW and the EOS, the Chrysler gone-minivan Route-an, even the CC might appeal to these types.
But titles like “Most Rugged Truck Brand”, is that its official name or was it picked out of a hat.
I like the interior of the CTS and Escalade, the other Cadillacs, not so much. Audi is still probably better though.
I actually think BMW is the opposite of a Cool Brand and I’ve owned one recently.
I would think Best Performance Brand would go to Porsche, Lamborghini, or Ferrari.
Best prestige brand I would disagree with Mercedes. I think they’ve really gone down market and are almost ubiquitous in Europe. Easily Rolls Royce, Bentley, Maserati, etc are more prestigious.
I find it hard to believe that Nissan edged out Mazda for Best Exterior Design Brand – Non-Luxury. All else being equal, the left rear mudflap on the CX-7 has got to be at least 7% better designed than the Versa’s door handles.
Who dreams up this crap?
Smithers . . . release the hounds.
And whet the long knives. Another voice dare raise itself in opposition to not in full agreement with the true word . . .
If I were in the market for a luxury Crossover SUV and I could pick any of them, I’d choose the X6 over the Porsche Cayenne.
The X6 looks cool to me.
Sure they are nose-heavy, prone to spontaneous combustion and overall unreliable. But nobody makes better looking cars, right now, than Audi. Particularly the A5.
BMW has had horrible looking cars since Bangle. The “Bangle butt”, as a practical way to increase trunk capacity, was actually invented by Volvo. It’s just that nobody noticed it until Bangle stole it from Volvo and made it ugly (Volvo’s version actually looked good).
I’m glad Cadillac got best Comfort award, it’s a big reason I purchased a CTS. But getting Best Interior design? Uh… It’s come a long way, but I feel Lexus and Audi take this by far.
I’d excuse a bit of BMW’s “design language” (a term generally used for ugly cars) if only the interiors were up to Audi standards. For a so-called premium brand, BMW interiors are seriously disappointing.
If the KBB guy who decided this had one more eye, he’d be a cyclops.