Mere months before the new generation WRX launch in New Zealand, Subaru of America has been named the Most Trusted Brand and the Best Performance Brand in the 2022 Kelley Blue Book Brand Image Awards.
The sport-tuned 2022 Subaru WRX, performance-tuned 2021 Subaru WRX STI, and 2022 BRZ sports coupe helped Subaru win the Best Performance Brand Award for the sixth time in the last eight years.
Impressively, this is the eighth consecutive year Subaru has been named Most Trusted Car Brand after achieving high average scores across all ratings of its 2022 Forester, Outback, XV and other non-luxury models.
The 2022 Brand Image Awards are based on consumer automotive perception data from Kelley Blue Book's (KBB) Brand Watch report. Brand Watch is an online brand and model perception tracking study tapping into 12,000 plus in-market new-vehicle shoppers annually on KBB’s website - KBB.com.
KBB recognises automakers' achievements in creating and maintaining brand attributes that capture the new vehicle buying public's attention and enthusiasm. The awards are based on the consumer sentiment of vehicles rated on factors such as comfortability, quality, safety, and performance.
The Subaru America motorsports programme connects the automaker with performance and race car enthusiasts. The Subaru WRX and Subaru WRX STI are the fastest-selling performance cars and are popular with their owners.
President and CEO of Subaru of America Tom Doll says: "Building and keeping the trust of our owners is at the core of our business, and Subaru owners know they can depend on the safety, reliability, and performance of their vehicle."
Subaru of New Zealand’s Managing Director Wallis Dumper was pleased to see the Kiwi adventure car brand’s American counterpart earn these awards - particularly ahead of the new generation WRX launch - which contributed to the Best Performance Brand Award.
“We are about to receive our 2022 2.4-litre WRX and WRX GT wagon in May and we welcome the postive news about Kelley Blue Book’s Best Performance Brand Award from the United States,” he says.
“Our new Outback recently won the New Zealand Autocar Car of the Year $50 to $65K Class award and received the AA/Driven New Zealand Car of the Year 2021 Safest Car of the year award. Those accolades, along with the across-our-range safety technology and the invisible advantage of our Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive engineering prowess, make it easy to see why Subaru would be the top pick for KBB’s Most Trusted Car Brand award.”
“It’s great to have an award for the WRX before it’s even launched here in New Zealand and it’s a fantastic endorsement for all our future customers who are considering purchasing the WRX 2.4T or WRX GT wagon,” Mr Dumper concludes.
Read more about the Subaru WRX 2.4T and the WRX GT wagon here.
Catherine Pattison
Public Relations
E catherine.pattison@subaru.co.nz
M +64 (0)27 4455389