Ford Most Considered Brand Among New Car Shoppers at KBB.Com

Ford is the most considered brand on KBB.com at 29 percent with Chevrolet and Toyota tied for second place with a distant 22 percent – or an almost 33 percent leg in consideration. Honda gets bumped to fourth place with 21 percent of consideration among new car buyers.

This is the list put out by KBB.Com based on the most-considered auto brands for the fourth quarter of 2010.

1. Ford - 29%
2. Chevrolet - 22%
3. Toyota - 22%
4. Honda - 21%
5. Nissan - 13%
6. Hyundai - 11%
7. BMW - 11%

What's significant about that list is how many people are considering BMW for purchase. Its consideration rate would suggest much higher sales than the 265,757 it sold in 2010 (including Mini).

"Ford's revamped product offering, strong business strategy and clever marketing have helped to lead it back to a position of prominence in the minds of new-car shoppers," said Jack R. Nerad, executive editorial director and executive market analyst for Kelley Blue Book's kbb.com. "With enticing products offered in nearly every new-car segment, and an emphasis on forward-thinking technology like SYNC and MyFord Touch, Ford is dominating the shopping lists of many new-car buyers and has a real opportunity to turn this consideration into more dollar-signs."

Of course, there are those in the know who would argue about the efficacy of SYNC and MyFordTouch because they can be difficult systems to use. Some consumers need more than a hour of special dealership training just to get the basics, but that isn't cooling the ardor new car buyers have for the Blue Oval.

A consideration rate doesn't equal a sales rate but it does indicate strong interest. If Ford continues to do this well among KBB.com buyers in 2011, it will have an even stronger year than 2010 when it reported profits of $6.56 billion.

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