SANTA BARBARA, CA-Toyota's Perceived Quality Score rose 4% over the last six months and Lexus once again captured the luxury category's highest Perceived Quality rating in 2011, according to the Spring 2011 Perceived Quality Study (PQS) from ALG, a subsidiary of DealerTrack Holdings Inc. The study also shows that Land Rover (up 2.5%) and Kia(up 5.6%) experienced the biggest gains in perception among luxury and mainstream brands respectively.

For its PQS, ALG surveys approximately 3,000 to 4,000 U.S. consumers twice a year to gauge perceptions of a number of luxury and mainstream automotive brands.

In the luxury category, Lexus topped the charts with an overall PQS of 83 (out of 100) followed by Mercedes (82.7 and -1.4 % vs. the Fall 2010 Study), BMW (80.2; +1.7%), Porsche (79.7; - 0.6% ) and Acura (78.1; +0.9% ).

Honda (81.2; -0.2%) once again led the mainstream brands and Toyota (73.5; +4.0%) rebounded from a firestorm of negative publicity early last year to finish the year strong. Ford Trucks (71.2; +1.9%), Subaru (70.6; +2.5%) and Nissan (69.8; +1.2%) finished third, fourth and fifth, respectively, in the mainstream category.