YouGov Report Names Top-Ranked US Automaker BrandWhen it comes to cars (and trucks), Chevy and Ford have been locked in combat for customers for more than a century.While both Detroit companies have had their share of struggles in recent decades, they continue to compete, and a study published this year reveals one has a slight edge in the eyes of consumers.America's top automaker brand revealedChevy topped Ford in a measure of brand health produced by YouGov and published earlier this year.AdvertisementAdvertisementThat is good news for Chevy, but there is a catch: The top three brands are all based overseas.Toyota took the top score by a wide margin followed by Honda and Subaru.In fact, Toyota turned out to be the dominant brand with an overall index score of 42.3. Not only was that nearly 20 points higher than Chevy, it eclipsed second-place Honda by more than nine points and beat third-place Subaru and fourth-place Chevy by nearly 20 points.Top-ranked auto brands (via YouGov)Toyota 42.3Honda 33.0Subaru 22.7Chevrolet 22.4Ford 20.3Lexus 18.1Mercedes-Benz 17.6BMW 17.0Nissan 16.4Audi 13.2Chevy's 2.1 lead over Ford represents a shift from four years ago when Ford ranked No. 4 overall with a score of 21.6, just ahead of Chevy's 21.3.What do they do best?Toyota's best score came in quality at 52.2, and it came in on top among both men and women as well as with every generation (Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X and Baby Boomers-plus).AdvertisementAdvertisementChevy struggled with the youngest generation, coming in 10th, while checking in third among Millennials and Gen X.Ford was the highest-rated domestic brand for Gen Z (sixth overall) while checking in fourth for Millennials and fifth with both Gen X and Baby Boomers+.Honda was No. 2 for each generation.Toyota and Honda ranked 1-2 among both genders, but men had a more favorable view of Ford (21.6, ranked 3rd) than Chevy (20.5, ranking 5th).However, Chevy ranked third overall among women while Ford came in fifth (after Subaru).Jeep also made the top 10 among women at No. 10.Honda claims the title of most-improved brand follows by Kia then Ram.Methodology and moreYouGov's study was produced by examining data from BrandIndex, the organization's brand tracker.AdvertisementAdvertisementIt covers April 1, 2025-March 31, 2026 and involved nearly 30,000 people.The scores represent an average based on brand impression, value, quality, reputation, satisfaction and recommendation metrics.To round out their view of the car market, YouGov also looked at "consideration" rankings among those planning to buy cars in the coming year and satisfaction among car brands' customers.They also got to know the Americans who plan to buy a car in the next 12 months via demographics, preferences and beliefs.That provided good news for Ford as it ranked ahead of Chevy.This story was originally published by Men's Journal on Jul 20, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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