There’s a new carmaker at the top of Consumer Report’s reliability rankings.
While Toyota and Lexus have traded the top two spots on the annual list of most reliable carmakers in recent years, Subaru has now risen to the top.
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Consumer Reports released the annual list Thursday morning, with Asian companies largely dominating the list. The top six on the list are all Japanese — Subaru, Lexus, Toyota, Honda, Acura and Mazda — while Nissan (Japan) and Kia, Hyundai and Genesis (all South Korea) all made the list of 22.
American carmakers, meanwhile, struggled. Buick was the highest on the list at No. 11, followed by Ford (13), Chevrolet (16), Tesla (17), Jeep (19), GMC (20), Cadillac (21) and Rivian (22).
Jake Fisher, author of the study, told WWJ AutoBeat Reporter Jeff Gilbert Subaru’s ascent to the top is in part because the company doesn’t add new technologies to vehicles until the tech is “ready for primetime.”
“Subaru redesigns vehicles and they incrementally make them better. They don’t kind of, like, start new,” Fisher said.
As for the American companies’ struggles, Fisher said changes in technology hampered them, especially the “Detroit Three.”
“What they’re struggling with is just shifting gears, whereas if you kind of stay at course and have a long-term strategy, that’s gonna mean long-term reliability,” Fisher said.
Each year for the reliability rankings, Consumer Reports asks its members about problems they’ve had with their vehicles in the previous 12 months. The publication then gives out scores for each make and model, based on 20 “trouble areas,” including minor issues like squeaky breaks and broken interior trim, as well as major problems like transmission and battery problems.
The highest-ranking American models included the Ford Mustang, Chevy Trailblazer and Ford Escape. The lowest-ranking US models included Ford’s F-150 Hybrid, the Ford Escape Hybrid, the Rivian R1S and Rivian R1T.
The full results of the study can be found on the Consumer Reports website.
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