A recent survey conducted among consumers name Ford, Honda, and Toyota as the top choices for 2008.
Toyota remains the number one choice of buyers for three consecutive years. This was the result after asking 1700 U.S. adults last December.
The perception though was not reflected in the books of Toyota which had a drop in December sales of as much as 36.7%. The US light vehicle sector posted a lost of year over year 35.6%.
In terms of being environment friendly, Toyota still ranks No. 1 while Honda finished second. In terms of value, Honda outclassed the other brands.
The rest of the top 5 brands was a joust between giant car makers Ford, Mercedes-Benz, and Cadillac. Mercedes-Benz landed on the top five for design while Cadillac placed among the best in technology. The two brands also made it to the best in quality topnotch.
Saab, Mazda, Hummer, and Suzuki received dismal appreciation from the consumers who responded to the survey.
Interpreting the survey, experts say that the top car manufacturers in the survey present an excellent first impression among consumers and the media.
Consumers’ first priority is the safety quality of the vehicles. In this category, Volvo won praises with 71% saying Volvo has the safest vehicles in the market today.
Following safety on the list are performance, quality, value, environmental friendliness, technology, and design.
Majority of the respondents though revealed that they are delaying their decisions of buying a new car. Reasons cited were good maintenance of their old car, prices of the new car releases, and worries about the current global crisis.