KBB Consumer Choice Award Winners:  Honda Scores Big!

Kelley Blue Book is sharing its 2024 Consumer Choice Award winners. Honda scores the most wins from new-car shoppers in this year's awards (formerly known as the Brand Image Awards.)

In its announcement, KBB says it's finally a great time to buy a new car, after several years of car-buying challenges that stem from production issues related to the pandemic.  Supply is evening out and there are more deals out there, something you'll also hear from CarPro Show host Jerry Reynolds.

KBB says while some of the challenges have eased up, buying a new car is still a huge purchase decision and that shoppers devote hours to researching which brand and model is best for them.

Consumer perception also weighs heavily into this process. That's where KBB's Consumer Choice Awards come in.  They recognizes automakers' outstanding achievements in creating and maintaining brand attributes that earn the attention and enthusiasm of new-car buyers. The awards are based on annual new-car shopper perception study data.  There are winners in the Award categories are calculated among in-market luxury and non-luxury, including truck and electric vehicle (EV)/hybrid shoppers who plan to purchase within the next 12 months.

"Honda is the major winner in this year's Consumer Choice Awards, nearly sweeping all of the non-luxury categories and taking home more wins than any other automaker for 2024," said Vanessa Ton, senior research and market intelligence manager at Cox Automotive. "While the award methodology has not changed, we changed the award name this year from the Brand Image Awards – what it has been known for more than 15 years – to the Consumer Choice Awards for 2024 and moving forward, to better reflect that these wins are voted on and determined by actual in-market shoppers on Kelley Blue Book's KBB.com. Consumer perception is a crucial factor in new-car purchase decisions, and we wanted to clarify that these awards are directly from the voice of consumers."

2024 Kelley Blue Book Consumer Choice Winners: Non-Luxury Brands

2024 Kelley Blue Book Consumer Choice Winner: Truck Brand

2024 Kelley Blue Book Consumer Choice Winner: EV/Hybrid Brand

2024 Kelley Blue Book Consumer Choice Winners: Luxury Brands

Honda Wins Big

The brand with the most wins is Honda. The automaker sweeps all but one of this year's non-luxury category awards, winning Best Overall Brand, Most Trusted Brand, Best Value Brand, Best Performance Brand and Best In-Vehicle Experience Brand, among all non-luxury automakers. Honda also gets the top nod as Best EV/Hybrid Brand among all automakers, both non-luxury and luxury. Add to that, it takes home the Best Overall Brand Award for the eighth time in the past 11 years, achieving the highest average scores across all ratings of non-luxury models. In addition, Honda impressively claims the Best Value Brand Award for the tenth straight year.

Ram and Dodge Take Titles From Toyota, Ford

Ram wins the Best Overall Truck Brand Award for 2024, following five straight years of Toyota winning the honor. Additionally, Dodge wins Best Car Styling Brand among non-luxury automakers for the fifth time in the past six years, reclaiming the award from last year's winner Ford.

Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Buick Win Luxury Brand Awards; Tesla Falls Off List

Among luxury automakers, Lexus wins Best Overall Luxury Brand and Most Trusted Luxury Brand. Lexus has notably dominated the Most Trusted Luxury Brand Award for nine years straight, including for 11 out of the past 12 years. Mercedes-Benz brings home two 2024 Consumer Choice Awards for Most Refined Luxury Brand and Best Car Styling Luxury Brand. 

Tesla falls off this year's list entirely. Porsche reclaims the Best Performance Brand Award from last year's winner Tesla, (it's a category Porsche has won several times in the past.) Buick wins Best Value Luxury Brand this year, after Tesla won the award for the previous four years.

KBB also addresses Tesla's place in the EV market. Researchers say EV sales growth has slowed while marketplace competition - something that's shifted the balance of power among brands. KBB says Tesla faces grueling competition from both legacy and start-up brands, challenging the company's market share as their limited model lineup continues to age. For 2024, brands offering a selection of powertrains and fresh, new products, focusing on key pillars such as quality, design and innovation, came out on top in the Consumer Choice Awards, edging out Tesla.

To read more about the 2024 awards, visit Kelley Blue Book here.