With so many new and used car brands to pick from, drivers in the market for a vehicle need to consider several important factors in choosing the right car for them. But even once they've narrowed it down to a particular type of vehicle, like an SUV, they'll still need to choose among the various vehicles within that segment, many of which will be competitively priced and boast similar features.

This is where brand perception comes into play. What sets a Volvo SUV apart from one made by Nissan? While these vehicles might have similar performance characteristics, most drivers will identify Volvo as a brand that focuses on safety, while Nissan has a reputation for innovation and technology.

In an effort to track how customers feel about certain automakers, Consumer Reports introduced the Car Brand Perception Survey. This study talks to 1,700 drivers about the different characteristics of the major brands, asking them to rate brands on value, safety, environmental friendliness, performance, style, innovation and quality. Respondents are given points, which they assign to each automaker based on their strengths. The points are then totaled and aggregated into an overall score.

In past years, Toyota has dominated the survey, with a lead massive lead over other automakers in years past. Yet thanks to the recent recall scandal, the brand's perception has suffered, and the automaker has fallen 46 points in 2 years, according to the company.

That opened the door for Ford, which has had a fantastic turnaround in the past few years. The company gained 35 points during the same period that Toyota fell, and while it was unable to overtake the Japanese giant this year, it fell shy by just 3 points. Ford ended up with 144, good for second place beyond Toyota's 147.

However, Consumer Reports noted that Toyota's victory came largely because of a victory in the "green" environmental category, a factor that the company has found consumers actually care less and less about. Only 28 percent of respondents cited environmental friendliness as factoring into their vehicle purchase. Thanks to its Prius hybrid, Toyota scored a 46 in that category, dominating Ford in second place with 18. Yet Ford beat Toyota in categories like safety, value, performance and style.

Other brands posted strong showings as well. Honda came in third with 121 points and was cited as better than Ford and Toyota in terms of quality. However, the brand has lost 28 points over the past two years. Chevrolet was in fourth, although it lost 22 points in the past two years as well.

BMW posted a strong showing as usual, in fifth place with 93 points and the overall winner of the performance and styling categories. Its German rival Mercedes-Benz was close behind with 90 points and was also considered the most innovative.

Finally, the survey also released the names of some brands that finished particularly poorly. Isuzu only managed an overall score of two, with Suzuki and Mitsubishi coming out with a five and eight, respectively.