Consumer Reports has released their latest Brand Report Card, which saw Japanese and German automakers come out on top.
Subaru was named the best brand, with an overall score of 81. It was followed by Mazda and BMW, which each had a score of 78. Honda and Lexus were close behind with scores of 77, followed by Audi (75), Porsche (74), MINI, (74), Toyota (74), and Infiniti (72).
American brands had a lackluster showing as Buick came in 11th place with an overall score of 72. It was followed by Chrysler (71), Dodge (67), Cadillac (63), and Ford (62).
Speaking of domestic brands, Tesla came in 23rd place with an overall score of 60 which was the same as Chevrolet and Mercedes. Tesla dropped seven spots and Consumer Reports said this was “mainly due to the difficult-to-use yoke steering wheel” that was recently introduced on the Model S and Model X.
Jeep came in last place with an overall score of 45. The publication didn’t say much about this but cited “reliability issues” with the Gladiator. Other low performers were Alfa Romeo (50), Land Rover (49), Mitsubishi (49), and GMC (48).
This year’s report card included 32 brands and Consumer Reports noted the rankings combine multiple factors including predicted reliability, owner satisfaction scores, safety ratings, and their own road tests. As a result, to be included in the rankings, the publication needed to have tested at least two vehicles from a brand. This is why Fiat, Maserati, Polestar, and Ram didn’t make the cut.
You can check out the full rankings here, but Consumer Reports’ senior director of automotive testing noted “Brands that rise to the top tend to have the most consistent performance across their model lineups.” Jake Fisher added it’s remarkable that mainstream brands like Subaru, Mazda, and Honda were ranked so highly and this “shows that you don’t need to splurge on a luxury brand to get a safe, satisfying, and reliable car.”
Keyword: Consumer Reports Says Subaru Makes The Best Vehicles, Jeep The Worst