In Consumer Report's annual reliability survey, results were intriguing with 2010 posting some surprising results. American manufacturers made some serious moves, Asian automakers continued to dominate the top and the Europeans encountered some serious trouble at the bottom.
Although the big news story here is General Motors, one thing people are overlook is that Ford is the most reliable domestic car manufacturer. Yeah, it's great GM has made significant process, but lets reward the winner, Ford.
You know what they say: "Second place is the first loser."
1) Ford
2) GM
3) Chrysler
Consumer Reports attributes much of GM's upwards movement to new product introductions, like the Camaro, Lacrosse and Equinox, as well as dropping brands that were essentially dead weight. Yeah, we're talking about Hummer, Pontiac and Saturn.
Keeping that in mind, maybe the next couple of years will bring Chrysler up a notch or two as the auto group turns the heat up on the others by introducing new products.
Although you wouldn't expect it given the past 12 months, Toyota held strong at the top. Honda did very well too.
Where fanbois will be kicking their troll feet is when you get to the big three, Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz. Consumer Reports says that all three are among the worst in terms of overall reliability.
With that said, take a look at some snippets from the piece down below...
**For the full story, click "Read Article" to see Consumer Report's findings.
On General Motors:
General Motors has improved considerably, though Honda and Toyota still dominate in the latest predicted-reliability Ratings of new cars, according to Consumer Reports 2010 Annual Auto Survey. Eighty-three percent of Chevrolets, General Motor's major brand, now have average or better scores in predicted reliability, up from 50 percent last year.
While some GM nameplates had been among the least reliable brands in past years, they now rank above some major European competitors such as Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz....
On Toyota:
...Despite recent safety recalls, Toyota models, including those from Scion and Lexus, remained among the most reliable and earned top scores in five vehicle categories: small cars (Yaris), midsized SUVs (FJ Cruiser), luxury SUVs (Lexus LX), minivans (Sienna V6, FWD), and full-size pickups (Tundra V6). Only the all-wheel-drive Lexus GS and the new Lexus IS 250 convertible are below average. The redesigned 2010 Toyota Prius, hurt by antilock brake problems on early vehicles, scored only average. That is quite a drop from previous years...
On European brands:
...While European reliability had been improving, momentum seems to have stalled. All Porsche and Volvo models are rated average or better. But Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz are among the worst automakers overall in terms of reliability...
[Source: Consumer Reports]
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