Kelley Blue Book lists the brands with the best 'Exterior Styling'

Kelley Blue Book (KBB) and its marketing research team have listed the brands that car buyers find to have the most exceptional ‘exterior styling’ in each vehicle segment. The results come from a study conducted by Brand Watch, KBB’s newest automotive research study. Though styling is a subjective matter, it still plays a major role in most car buying decisions and can easily persuade a buyer towards a particular vehicle.

Nissan was voted to have the most stylish non-luxury sedans in the market, beating out more popular makes Toyota and Honda. Ford managed to win two top spots, taking honors in the truck and non-luxury SUV segments, while BMW also had two top places with wins in the luxury SUV and luxury sedan segments. The category that we’re all interested in, convertibles and sports cars, was taken by Porsche, followed closely by Mercedes-Benz and Jaguar.

"As vehicle reliability reaches near-parity in the market, we predict that exterior styling will play an even bigger role in building new-vehicle sales and brand equity," said Jack R. Nerad, executive editorial director and executive market analyst at KBB. "The results of the Brand Watch study demonstrate that the industry is, and should be, placing great emphasis on what their vehicles look like." Follow the jump to see the top three makes in each segment.

Convertibles/Sports Cars

1. Porsche

2. Mercedes-Benz

3. Jaguar

Trucks

1. Ford

2. GMC

3. Chevrolet

Minivans

1. Dodge

2. Toyota

3. Honda

Luxury SUVs

1. BMW

2. Lexus

3. Mercedes-Benz

Non-Luxury SUVs

1. Ford

2. Toyota

3. GMC

Luxury Sedan

1. BMW

2. Mercedes-Benz

3. Infiniti

Non-Luxury Sedan

1. Nissan

2. Honda

3. Toyota