Tesla Earns Best Overall Luxury Brand: KBB

For new electric vehicle buyers, more options are available now than ever before. Although several new EVs are available to consumers, it can still be daunting to choose between the many options out there, and to find something within your budget. One publication recently pointed to Tesla as a leading luxury brand overall, among a handful of other awards.

Above: A Tesla Model S (Image: Casey Murphy / EVANNEX).

Tesla earned the title of Best Overall Luxury Brand from Kelley Blue Book in its most recent Brand Image analysis, landing them the top spot in this category for the fourth year in a row (via Teslarati). In addition to this title, the electric vehicle maker landed itself four other spots in the outlet’s Brand Image Awards, including Best Value Luxury Brand, Most Refined Luxury Brand, Best Performance Luxury Brand and the Best Overall EV Brand.

To come up with these results, KBB looked at the opinions of more than 12,000 new vehicle shoppers in its annual Brand Watch Study, with respondents being prospective buyers who have done their research. According to KBB, the Brand Image analysis looks primarily at new consumer appeal across the respondents, and whether or not an automaker’s brand can “create enthusiasm among shoppers.”

“The automakers that are awarded here have brand images that can excite and attract new car shoppers,” writes KBB in its introduction. “And doing this is essential when it comes to success in the marketplace.”

Throughout the aforementioned categories, Tesla is apparently an exciting brand for consumers thinking about going electric. As for success in the marketplace, the shortlist of brand image awards given to Tesla comes just after a record first-quarter for the automaker — in both total deliveries and overall production.

Currently, Tesla is selling more EVs than any other company throughout many world auto markets. The automaker currently sells four passenger vehicles, listed from cheapest to most expensive: the Model 3 sedan, the Model Y SUV, the Model S premium sedan and the Model X premium SUV. Additionally, the highly anticipated Cybertruck is set to enter production this summer.

The Best Overall EV Brand is a new category for KBB, which the publication says it added to “reflect the changing marketplace.” As automakers attempt to offer their best Tesla alternatives for the EV marketplace in the coming months and years, competition will continue to grow. As it currently stands, however, Tesla seems to be the most appealing EV and luxury brand to buyers.

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