Mercedes Benz, BMW and Audi Seen as Top Three Car Manufacturers in Terms of Overall Brand Quality By Europeans
LONDON AND ROCHESTER, N.Y., Sept. 13 -- Harris Interactive(R) has conducted new research to understand the values that adult consumers from Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain associate with 21 major automobile brands ahead of the firm's attendance at The 61st International Motor Show (IAA) Cars in Frankfurt, Germany.
Key findings from the study include:
-- In the five European markets surveyed overall, consumers regard
Mercedes Benz (#1), BMW (#2) and Audi (#3) as the top three car
manufacturers in terms of overall brand quality. Fourth on the list is
Volvo, the only non-German brand to make it into the top five on the
overall list, while Volkswagen takes the fifth spot overall.
-- Only two of the European markets surveyed have Japanese brands in their
top five lists for overall brand quality (Lexus #3 in the UK and Toyota
#5 in Italy).
-- Among the 21 automobile brands measured, Fiat is considered to be the
worst brand for overall quality in the five European markets surveyed
except in its home market, where Italians have only a poorer opinion of
Skoda. Skoda is amongst the worst five brands across all five European
markets, as is Hyundai. Citroen escapes this dubious distinction in
France alone. In most countries the indigenous brands are rated more
favourably. However, a notable exception is the United Kingdom, where
Rover follows closely behind Fiat as the second worst brand in terms of
overall quality.
-- Prestigious German cars, including BMW, Mercedes Benz and Audi, are on
the overall top five lists for brands that convey the values of success
and financial security; however, they do not make the lists for brands
that convey the values of family, freedom or sociability.
-- A third (33%) of European adults surveyed believes Alfa Romeo conveys a
sense of freedom to consumers. After Alfa Romeo, it is mainly the Far
Eastern brands, including Honda (27%), Mazda (26%), Toyota (24%),
Hyundai (20%), which signify freedom to consumers.
-- Some mass market manufacturers (Ford, Opel/Vauxhall, Renault and Skoda)
convey family values to Europeans surveyed overall, while others,
particularly Fiat, Hyundai, Citroen and Peugeot, imply sociability, but
for many, they do not convey financial security or success.
-- Consumers are more likely to associate family values with cars
manufactured or badged in their own countries. So, in Italy, Fiat
conveys the strongest family values; in France, Peugeot, Renault and
Citroen; in Germany, Volkswagen comes in third on the list after Ford
and Vauxhall/Opel, and likewise, Rover in the United Kingdom.
"The ability to tap into the perceptions and values held by car buyers, and indeed, customers of any product or service, is a critical factor in understanding what drives human decision-making," comments George Terhanian, President of European Operations and Global Internet Research, Harris Interactive. Terhanian continues, "Our ability to quickly and efficiently interview large numbers of Europeans, all members of our multimillion member panel of consumers, makes it much easier for us to generate the kind of evidence we need to inform and guide the development of our clients' marketing and communications strategies."
TABLE 1
OVERALL QUALITY PERCEPTIONS - SUMMARY BY COUNTRY OF HIGHEST SCORING BRANDS
"How would you rate the following in terms of their overall quality as a car
brand?"
Base: All Adults
Overall for Great France Italy Spain Germany
Five Britain
Countries
(n=6,717) (n=2,080) (n=1,179) (n=1,181) (n=1,079) (n=1,198)
Mean Mean Mean Mean Mean Mean
Score Score Score Score Score Score
(Ranking) (Ranking) (Ranking) (Ranking) (Ranking) (Ranking)
Mercedes
Benz 6.1 (1) 5.9 (1) 6.2 (1) 6.2 (=1) 6.5 (1) 5.6 (3)
BMW 6.0 (2) 5.7 (2) 6.1 (2) 6.2 (=1) 6.4 (2) 5.8 (=1)
Audi 5.9 (3) 5.6 (=3) 6.0 (3) 6.0 (3) 6.3 (3) 5.8 (=1)
Volvo 5.5 (4) 5.3 (=6) 5.4 (=5*) 5.6 (=4) 6.0 (4) 5.4 (4)
Volkswagen 5.4 (5) 5.3 (=6) 5.5 (4) 5.6 (=4) 5.8 (5) 5.0 (7)
Lexus 5.2 (6) 5.6 (=3) 4.9 (=11) 5.0 (=8) 5.3 (=7*) 5.1 (6)
Saab 5.2 (7) 5.4 (5) 5.0 (=9) 5.3 (=6) 5.3 (=7*) 4.7 (=8**)
Toyota 5.2 (8) 5.2 (=8) 5.1 (8) 5.3 (=6) 5.4 (6) 5.2 (5)
Note 1: Twenty-one car brands included: Alfa Romeo, Audi, BMW, Citroen,
Fiat, Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Lexus, Mazda, Mercedes Benz, Nissan,
Opel (Vauxhall in GB), Peugeot, Renault, Rover, Saab, Skoda,
Toyota, Volkswagen, Volvo
Note 2: Ratings on a 7-point scale, where 7 equals outstanding quality and
1 equals poor, unacceptable quality. Rankings based on mean scores
in each country.
* With Peugeot (not listed on table)
** With Honda (not listed on table)
TABLE 2
OVERALL QUALITY PERCEPTIONS - SUMMARY BY COUNTRY OF LOWEST SCORING BRANDS
"How would you rate the following in terms of their overall quality as a car
brand?"
Base: All Adults
Overall Great France Italy Spain Germany
for Five Britain
Countries
(n=6,717) (n=2,080) (n=1,179) (n=1,181) (n=1,079) (n=1,198)
Mean Mean Mean Mean Mean Mean
Score Score Score Score Score Score
(Ranking) (Ranking) (Ranking) (Ranking) (Ranking) (Ranking)
Fiat 3.7 (21) 3.6 (21) 3.6 (=20) 4.0 (20) 4.2 (=20) 3.4 (21)
Hyundai 4.1 (=19) 4.2 (18) 3.9 (19) 4.3 (19) 4.4 (19) 3.9 (18)
Skoda 4.1 (=19) 4.3 (17) 3.6 (=20) 3.8 (21) 4.2 (=20) 4.2 (20)
Citroen 4.5 (=17) 4.1 (19) 5.0 (=9) 4.7 (17) 4.9 (=17) 4.1 (19)
Rover 4.5 (=17) 3.9 (20) 4.8 (=13) 4.8(=14) 4.9 (=17) 4.3(=14)
TABLE 3
TOP FIVE BRANDS ASSOCIATED WITH "SUCCESS" - SUMMARY BY COUNTRY "Which one of the listed values do you think best describes the following car
brands?"
Percent selecting "success"
Base: All Adults
Overall Great France Italy Spain Germany
for Five Britain
Countries
(n=6,717) (n=2,080) (n=1,179) (n=1,181) (n=1,079) (n=1,198)
% % % % % %
BMW 56 56 70 48 54 54
Mercedes Benz 53 53 68 42 52 49
Audi 48 49 56 38 49 45
Lexus 45 49 51 32 44 46
Alfa Romeo 34 39 41 30 34 24
TABLE 4
TOP FIVE BRANDS ASSOCIATED WITH "FINANCIAL SECURITY" - SUMMARY BY COUNTRY "Which one of the listed values do you think best describes the following car
brands?"
Percent selecting "financial security"
Base: All Adults
Overall Great France Italy Spain Germany
for Five Britain
Countries
(n=6,717) (n=2,080) (n=1,179) (n=1,181) (n=1,079) (n=1,198)
% % % % % %
Mercedes Benz 37 39 22 50 32 40
BMW 29 32 20 42 26 25
Lexus 27 30 17 35 24 26
Audi 26 24 19 38 27 21
Saab 25 23 24 32 25 18
TABLE 5
TOP FIVE BRANDS ASSOCIATED WITH "FREEDOM" - SUMMARY BY COUNTRY "Which one of the listed values do you think best describes the following car
brands?"
Percent selecting "freedom"
Base: All Adults
Overall Great France Italy Spain Germany*
for Five Britain
Countries
(n=6,717) (n=2,080) (n=1,179) (n=1,181) (n=1,079) (n=1,198)
% % % % % %
Alfa Romeo 33 23 37 31 26 52
Honda 27 15 26 36 30 36
Mazda 26 25 20 33 29 24
Toyota 24 15 24 36 34 19
Hyundai 20 17 19 30 21 13
* Rover 32%
TABLE 6
TOP FIVE BRANDS ASSOCIATED WITH "FAMILY" - SUMMARY BY COUNTRY
"Which one of the listed values do you think best describes the following car
brands?"
Percent selecting "family"
Base: All Adults
Overall Great France Italy Spain Germany
for Five Britain*
Countries
(n=6,717) (n=2,080) (n=1,179) (n=1,181) (n=1,079) (n=1,198)
% % % % % %
Ford 62 73 48 60 53 67
Opel/Vauxhall 61 74 49 56 48 70
Renault 58 59 63 53 53 59
Skoda 54 62 34 60 39 65
Citroen 54 61 61 43 51 50
* Rover 66%
TABLE 7
TOP FIVE BRANDS ASSOCIATED WITH "SOCIABILITY" - SUMMARY BY COUNTRY "Which one of the listed values do you think best describes the following car
brands?"
Percent selecting "sociability"
Base: All Adults
Overall Great France Italy Spain Germany
for Five Britain
Countries
(n=6,717) (n=2,080) (n=1,179) (n=1,181) (n=1,079) (n=1,198)
% % % % % %
Fiat 23 23 28 12 20 34
Hyundai 19 16 22 21 21 18
Citroen 18 17 16 23 13 23
Peugeot 18 16 15 21 18 19
Skoda 17 15 24 16 17 14
Methodology
Harris Interactive conducted the online survey between 4 and 12 August 2005, among 6,717 adults aged 16 and over from five European countries: Great Britain (2,080), France (1,179), Italy (1,181), Spain (1,079) and Germany (1,198). Data were weighted to be representative of the general population in each country with respect to age, sex, income, education, age, sex, geographic location and propensity to be online.
In theory, with probability samples of this size, one could say with 95 percent certainty that the results in Italy, France, Germany, and Spain have a sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points, while the results in Great Britain have a sampling error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. These online samples were not probability samples.
About Harris Interactive(R)
Harris Interactive Inc. (www.harrisinteractive.com), the 13th largest market research firm in the world, is a Rochester, NY-based global research company that blends premier strategic consulting with innovative and efficient methods of investigation, analysis and application. Known for The Harris Poll(R) and for pioneering Internet-based research methods, Harris Interactive conducts proprietary and public research to help its clients achieve clear, material and enduring results.
Harris Interactive combines its intellectual capital, databases and technology to advance market leadership through its U.S. and London-based offices and wholly owned subsidiaries, Novatris in Paris (www.novatris.com), and through an independent global network of affiliate market research companies. EOE M/F/D/V.
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