Reputation Institute the world’s leading provider of reputation intelligence, today announced the 2018 US Automotive RepTrak rankings, that reveals the most reliable cars brands.
Subaru, Honda, BMW Group and Toyota attained the highest rankings among automotive companies with each achieving a strong reputation score based on a survey capturing more than 1,785 individual ratings from among the informed General Public in the US. As the most reputable car manufacturer with the largest year-over-year increase in reputation, Subaru scored highest on the merits of products/services and performance — two of the most important dimensions for car companies to deliver on.
The Most Reliable Cars Brands in the US for 2018 are:
1. Subaru
2. Honda
3. BMW Group
4. Toyota
5. Nissan
6. Groupe PSA
7. Ford
8. Mazda
9. Tesla
10. General Motors
11. Hyundai
12. Groupe Renault
13. Mitsubishi
14. Fiat Chrysler
15. Volkswagen
16. Daimler AG
17. Kia Motors
While the top companies that successfully manage their reputations receive the benefits of broad stakeholder support — Subaru has experienced ten consecutive years of sales increases, and doubled sales within five years — 2018 has been a very challenging year for many automotive OEMs. The reputation of the overall automotive industry has declined by -3.9 points year-over-year. The likelihood of stakeholders to trust the automotive industry to do the right thing is down -5.7%, and stakeholders providing benefit of the doubt for the industry also declined -7.1%. The reputational repercussions are resulting in a significant downward trend in levels of stakeholder support, with likelihood to buy down -6.0%, say something positive down -6.6%, willingness to invest down -6.8%, and intent to work for down -6.7%. With these reputational challenges, auto industry sales were relatively stagnant year-on-year, resulting in auto industry share price declines for 2018.
The study results indicate significant opportunities for automotive companies to improve their reputations and stakeholder support by mindfully addressing the key reputation drivers.
