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Honda, Hyundai and Kia get best word-of-mouth recommendations in US

Forget advertising, incentives and, yes, even our excellently crafted vehicle reviews, sometimes the best way for automakers to sell cars is still good ol' fashioned word of mouth. In an attempt to measure this "word of mouth" power, The Boston Consulting Group, a management consulting firm, has created a new study called the Brand Advocacy Index (BAI). The index takes a look at how various industries perform from person to person. Those industries include automotive, smartphones, grocery, mobile telecommunications and banking.
The study polled more than 32,000 individuals across Europe and in the US to come up with the top 55 brands in these various industries. On the automotive side of things, the top brands in the US were Honda, Hyundai and Kia, all tied at 63 percent. On a global scale, Volkswagen and Toyota scored the highest with a 65-percent BAI rating (both in France). The average BAI for auto industry players tallied 50 percent.
As for companies in other industries, Apple's iPhone was the index's top-rated smartphone, Trader Joe's was the highest recommended grocery store, Virgin was sat atop the mobile telecom industry and USAA was the top retail bank. Scroll down for the full press release on the new study.

2019 Hyundai Kona gets standard safety tech, as prices creep up

The 2019 Hyundai Kona is marking its second year on the market with a few upgrades to sweeten the funky subcompact crossover. The most significant change is the addition of new standard safety equipment. Every trim level from the base SE to the ultimate, well, Ultimate, get automatic emergency braking and collision warning, lane-departure assist and driver attention warning. All of these features were only available on the Ultimate trim level last year. There are a few other small changes here and there. Hyundai is eliminating the silver with black roof color option, but adding a new color called Sunset Orange. The 12-volt power outlet up front goes away on all models in favor of dual USB charging ports. The Infinity upgraded sound system and Hyundai BlueLink connectivity software are now available on the SEL with the SEL Tech Package. The sunroof is also only available as an option on the Ultimate trim, and is included with the SEL Tech Package. View 16 Photos And as is the way with new model years, especially when new equipment is added, prices have crept up a bit for all Kona trim levels. The SE increases by $490, SEL by $650, Limited by $900, and Ultimate by just $100. All-wheel-drive is $100 more expensive, too, at $1,400. The same goes for the SEL Tech Package, which now starts at $1,600. You can see all the prices for both model years below. Trim Level 2019 2018 SE $20,970 $20,480 SEL $22,780 $22,130 Limited $26,530 $25,680 Ultimate $28,480 $28,380 AWD option $1,400 $1,300 SEL Tech package $1,600 $1,500 Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Image Credit: Hyundai, James Riswick Hyundai Crossover Hatchback hyundai kona

Autoblog's Editors' Picks: Our complete list of the best new vehicles

It's not easy to earn an “EditorsÂ’ Picks” at Autoblog as part of the rating and review process that every new vehicle goes through. Our editors have been at it a long time, which means weÂ’ve driven and reviewed virtually every new car you can go buy on the dealer lot. There are disagreements, of course, and all vehicles have their strengths and weaknesses, but this list features what we think are the best new vehicles chosen by Autoblog editors. We started this formal review process back in 2018, so there's quite of few of them now. So what does it mean to be an EditorsÂ’ Pick? In short, it means itÂ’s a car that we can highly recommend purchasing. There may be one, multiple, or even zero vehicles in any given segment that we give the green light to. What really matters is that itÂ’s a vehicle that weÂ’d tell a friend or family member to go buy if theyÂ’re considering it, because itÂ’s a very good car. The best way to use this list is is with the navigation links below. Click on a segment, and you'll quickly arrive at the top rated pickup truck or SUV, for example. Use the back button to return to these links and search in another segment, like sedans. If youÂ’ve been keeping up with our monthly series of the latest vehicles to earn EditorsÂ’ Pick status, youÂ’re likely going to be familiar with this list already. If not, welcome to the complete list that weÂ’ll be keeping updated as vehicles enter (and others perhaps exit) the good graces of our editorial team. We rate a new car — giving it a numerical score out of 10 — every time thereÂ’s a significant refresh or if it happens to be an all-new model. Any given vehicle may be impressive on a first drive, but we wait until itÂ’s in the hands of our editors to put it through the same type of testing as every other vehicle that rolls through our test fleet before giving it the EditorsÂ’ Pick badge. This ensures consistency and allows more voices to be heard on each individual model. And just so you donÂ’t think weÂ’ve skipped trims or variants of a model, we hand out the EditorsÂ’ Pick based on the overarching model to keep things consistent. So, when you read that the 3 Series is an EditorsÂ’ Pick, yes, that includes the 330i to the M3 and all the variants in between. If thereÂ’s a particular version of that car we vehemently disagree with, we make sure to call that out.