Kelley Blue Book Announces Winners of 2008 Brand Image Awards

Awards Honor Top New-Auto Brands Based on Consumer Perception Data from KBB
Marketing Research

NEW YORK, March 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Kelley Blue Book (http://www.kbb.com),
the leading provider of new- and used-vehicle information, today announced the
winners of the 2008 Kelley Blue Book Brand Image Awards. The Kelley Blue Book
Brand Image Awards recognize automakers' outstanding achievements in creating
and maintaining brand attributes that capture the attention and enthusiasm of
the new-vehicle buying public.
The 2008 Brand Image Awards are based on consumer automotive perception
data from Kelley Blue Book Marketing Research's Brand Watch study. Brand
Watch is an online brand perception tracking study tapping into 12,000+
in-market new-vehicle shoppers annually on kbb.com. The highly comprehensive
Brand Watch report provides a detailed look at in-market new-vehicle shoppers'
perceptions of brands, and important factors driving their purchase decisions
while they are in the midst of the shopping process. The results of an entire
year of Brand Watch research and consumer opinions determine the 2008 Kelley
Blue Book Brand Image Award winners.
Kelley Blue Book handed out 17 awards to automotive brands in the
following categories during a gala event this evening amidst the festivities
of the New York International Auto Show Media Preview Week in New York City:
KELLEY BLUE BOOK'S 2008 BRAND IMAGE AWARDS

Best Interior Design -- Non-Luxury Sedan/Coupe/Hatchback: Toyota
Best Interior Design -- Luxury Sedan/Coupe/Hatchback: Lexus
Best Interior Design -- Sports Car/Convertible: Mercedes-Benz
Best Interior Design -- Truck: Chevrolet
Best Interior Design -- Non-Luxury SUV: Toyota
Best Interior Design -- Luxury SUV: Lexus
Best Interior Design -- Minivan: Honda

Best Exterior Design -- Non-Luxury Sedan/Coupe/Hatchback: Chrysler
Best Exterior Design -- Luxury Sedan/Coupe/Hatchback: BMW
Best Exterior Design -- Sports Car/Convertible: Porsche
Best Exterior Design -- Truck: Chevrolet
Best Exterior Design -- Non-Luxury SUV: Ford
Best Exterior Design -- Luxury SUV: Mercedes-Benz
Best Exterior Design -- Minivan: Toyota

Best Overall Interior Design: Toyota
Best Overall Exterior Design: BMW
Best Overall Prestige Brand: Mercedes-Benz

"The Kelley Blue Book Brand Image Awards honor the automakers that stand
out in the ongoing heated battle for consumer perception," said Rick
Wainschel, vice president of marketing research and brand communications for
Kelley Blue Book and kbb.com. "While specific vehicle models may come and go
over the years, the power of the brand is lasting in the minds of consumers."
The most prestigious honors from Brand Watch include Best Interior and
Exterior Styling, as well as Best Overall Prestige Brand. Based on the
results of the Brand Watch study, consumers rated Mercedes-Benz as Best
Overall Prestige Brand. With the company's long history of combining rich
interiors with distinguished exterior styling, the brand is known not only as
a preeminent luxury automaker, but also one of the foremost luxury brands in
the world.
BMW captured the award for having Best Overall Exterior Design. Its
once-controversial new designs are now winning legions of fans, and the
company has maintained a family resemblance across the board while allowing
each model to take the design theme in a slightly different direction. Toyota
garnered Best Overall Interior Design with its vehicles' simple, familiar and
consistently gratifying fit, finish and materials used across its vehicle
line-up.
"Understanding brand perception is important to gauging vehicle value,"
said Jack R. Nerad, executive editorial director and executive market analyst
of Kelley Blue Book and kbb.com. "Because brand is so important to consumers
as they decide which vehicles they are considering and, ultimately, what
vehicles they will buy, it is important to study their perceptions of various
brands, the attributes that contribute to those perceptions, and how those
perceptions shift over time."
For more information about the 2008 Kelley Blue Book Brand Image Awards,
please visit www.kbb.com/BIA08.
For Brand Watch sales inquiries on any vehicle segment or brand, please
contact Kelly Gim, director of marketing research services at 949-268-2756 or
kgim@kbb.com.
About Kelley Blue Book (http://www.kbb.com/sitemap)
Since 1926, Kelley Blue Book, The Trusted Resource(R), has provided
vehicle buyers and sellers with the new and used vehicle information they need
to accomplish their goals with confidence. The company's top-rated Web site,
kbb.com, provides the most up-to-date pricing and values, including the New
Car Blue Book(R) Value, which reveals what people actually are paying for new
cars. The company also reports vehicle pricing and values via products and
services, including software products and the famous Blue Book(R) Official
Guide. Kbb.com is rated the No. 1 automotive information site by
Nielsen//NetRatings and the most visited auto site by J.D. Power and
Associates eight years in a row. No other medium reaches more in-market
vehicle shoppers than kbb.com; nearly one in every three American car buyers
performs their research on kbb.com.
SOURCE Kelley Blue Book

Robyn Eckard, +1-949-268-3049, reckard@kbb.com, or Joanna McNally,
+1-949-268-3079, jmcnally@kbb.com, both of Kelley Blue Book