Toyota Dominates As Australia’s Most Trusted Car Brand, Tesla Leapfrogs Mercedes

A recent survey of 14,383 Australians shows that Toyota is the most trusted automotive brand Down Under, something that’s also reflected by the new vehicle buying intention data according to Roy Morgan, as well as sales figures for 2019.

Second place on the most trusted car brands list is held by Mazda, followed by Honda, Subaru, Nissan, Hyundai, Tesla, Mercedes, Kia and Ford. The fact that the top 5 brands are all Japanese is also quite telling.

Of course, having Tesla in 7th place ahead of the likes of Mercedes, Kia and Ford is extremely impressive, and goes to show just how much Australian motorists appreciate the EV-maker’s reputation as an innovator.

Also read: Your BMW SUV Can Now Change Lanes By Itself Down Under

Perhaps the biggest surprise comes from Holden, as their absence cannot go unnoticed with this type of survey. Same for BMW, Audi and Volkswagen, three names that made the cut just five years ago, according to News.

“The poor result for Holden comes as Australia’s most iconic car company announced that its most recognizable car, the Holden Commodore, will be phased out over the next year,” said Roy Morgan’s chief executive, Michele Levine.

“Without a local manufacturing base, Holden has become just another importer and has fallen well behind other car brands over the last few years. The low Net Trust Score for Holden highlights the risk facing the General Motors subsidiary over the next few years without solid local support.”

She added that carmakers need to keep a high level of trust in order to support or grow their sales: “It’s well-known that Australia’s automotive market is in a rough spot at present with sales of cars in dipping in the last two years after reaching a record 1.189 million in 2017.”

Those numbers went down by 3% in 2018 and have continued to decline in 2019 as well.