Honda, Subaru, Toyota top Reports rankings
The 2009 Honda Fit Sport Credit: Honda
Consumer Reports has named Honda, Subaru and Toyota as the best all-around carmakers for the third year in a row in its annual auto issue.
The magazine said yesterday that Ford Motor Co. made the largest year-to-year gain in its review. The ratings are based on the magazine's average road tests and predicted reliability scores and are closely watched by car buyers.
Honda Motor Co. and its Acura division had the best overall score of 74 out of 100 points in the Consumer Reports' ranking. It was followed by Subaru with 73 points and Toyota Motor Corp. with 71 points. Volvo was fourth with 68 points, followed closely by Ford and Hyundai.
Chrysler Group Llc had the worst ranking among automakers, with 43 points. Mercedes-Benz, BMW and General Motors were also near the bottom.
Consumer Reports said Honda had the best reliability record and recommended about three-quarters of the Hondas it has tested.
Subaru had the highest road-test score, and was credited for making dependable all-wheel-drive vehicles with simple controls.
Toyota, which has dealt with massive safety recalls, fared well in the magazine's top picks for 2011 across 10 different vehicle segments. The company had the most with three picks (RAV4 small SUV, Sienna minivan and Prius hybrid).
Ford received 67 points out of 100. The magazine commended the manufacturer for the amount of room inside its vehicles, and for how they accelerate and ride. The Ford Mustang was the No. 1 sports-car pick, placing a U.S. manufacturer at the top of that list for the first time in six years.
"Ford has really developed Mustang into a well-designed car," said Rik Paul, the magazine's auto editor. "It's not only a good sports car, but it's a good daily drive."
The magazine uses vehicle owner reliability surveys from 1.3 million consumers, government and insurance-industry crash tests and its own evaluations of how vehicles function for its ratings.
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