Consumer Reports: Automaker Report Cards

John Suit — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 15:00:12 +0000

Consumer Reports has released its 2010 Automaker Report Cards. Each year, they take the average score of each automaker’s products and rank the automakers. Since Toyota has so many recalls, they’ve suspended the values for the 8 recalled models, so while Toyota is in 3rd place, that’s only a subset of their overall score. The only automaker to fall from previous ratings was Chrysler, which is interesting when you consider that most of their models are carryovers from the 2009 model year. Read on for more details.

Honda and Subaru tied for first, followed by Toyota and Hyundai. Nissan and Volkswagen tied, following the Koreans, which leaves Ford and Chevrolet trailing. Last in the list was Chrysler, whose only standout is the Dodge Ram pickup. Toyota would have scored higher if not for all the recalls, and Volkswagen would have beat Nissan, except for its brands had more problems per car. Of particular interest in the Toureg, which earned the worst reliability rating in the entire test. Ford gained slightly this year due to the Ford Fusion/Mercury Milan and redesigned F-150. Chevrolet also gained, albeit not enough to topple Ford. As for the Europeans not already mentioned, Mercedes-Benz’ GLK SUV is the first Mercedes that Consumer Reports has listed as “recommended” in quite some time, which helped raise its score year over last year’s.

by John Suit

Source: Consumer Reports

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Consumer Reports: Automaker Report Cards