(March 22, 2011) NEW YORK (PRNewswire) — Continuing their steady climb back into the hearts and minds of consumers, domestic brands Ford and Chevrolet nabbed the top two spots in the 2011 Harris Poll EquiTrend study while last year's highest ranked brand, Toyota, fell to fourth in the rankings, behind Honda.

The 2011 Harris Poll EquiTrend Full Line Automotive Brand of the Year is awarded to the highest ranked brand in this category. Overall, awards are given in each of 46 different categories.

Mercedes-Benz ranked highest among Luxury Automotive brands and was named 2011 Harris Poll EquiTrend Luxury Automotive Brand of the Year with last year's highest ranked company, Lexus, ranked second, followed by BMW and Infiniti. 

"Improved product among the domestic automotive manufacturers is clearly having a positive impact on consumers and their perceptions of Ford and Chevrolet," said Carol Gstalder, Senior Vice President of Business and Industrial Research at Harris Interactive. "Both award recipients — Ford and Mercedes-Benz — have faced recent challenges, but both have introduced strong new and redesigned products. The opportunity is sustaining this improvement in the face of increased competition."

Automakers that showed the greatest improvement included Kia, Land Rover, Acura and Audi. Hyundai and Subaru have also shown steady improvement each of the past four years.

"Traditionally strong automotive brands are being challenged by up and coming brands, Kia and Hyundai, that are offering strong value propositions with improving product quality," said Gstalder. "If the economy continues to remain stagnant and gas prices continue to rise, these brands will be positioned to increase their market share."

Additional automotive categories measured and awarded "Brand of the Year" include Automotive Service Centers (Goodyear), Automotive Tire Brands (Michelin), Gasoline Retailers (Speedway Gasoline), Motor Oil (Pennzoil Motor Oil) and Motorcycles (Harley Davidson).