The way consumers perceive a car can often have more effect on sales than the vehicle's actual qualities.
Buyers continue to view Toyota, Ford and Honda as the best cars, according to the annual Consumer Reports Car-Brand Perception Survey.
Scores reflect consumer perception when it comes to seven factors: quality, safety, performance, value, fuel economy, design/style and technology/innovation, Consumer Reports staff said.
While heavyweight brands like Toyota and Chevrolet have long topped the list, newer names including Tesla are moving up.
The survey doesn't reflect the vehicles' actual value or quality; instead, the scores simply reflect how consumers view the brand.
"The key word here is 'perception,' as influenced by word-of-mouth, marketing and hands-on experience," Consumer Reports noted.
For the 2014 scores, Toyota came out on top with a 145-point score, a 25-point lead on second-place finisher Ford. Honda and Chevrolet followed closely, while Tesla Motors rounded out the top five.
Conducted by the Consumer Reports National Research Center through telephone, the survey encompassed around 1,600 adults in households that had at least one car. The participants were randomly selected from around the country.
Rather than being read a list of car brands, the survey subjects were asked to come up with which automakers best fit the seven categories.
"That approach compensates for awareness level, ensuring that every brand has an equal chance of leading a category, not just the best-selling or most well-known brands," according to Consumer Reports.
The survey also found the worst car brands by consumer perception. The brand with the lowest score of four points was Land Rover. Maserati, Jaguar and Rolls-Royce followed with the next-lowest number of points.
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