Ford Motor Co. is once again the only Detroit automaker to make this year's "Top Picks" list by Consumer Reports.
The automaker made the cut this year with its Maverick Hybrid compact truck. Last year, Ford's electric Mustang Mach-E made the list. No Detroit Three vehicles made the list in 2021.
Consumer Reports also released its brand rankings, and again this year, like last year, not one Detroit-based auto brand ranked in the top 10. European and Japanese brands dominated the list because of their solid reliability. General Motors Co.'s Buick brand placed the highest on list of 32 at No. 12, followed by Stellantis NV's Dodge at No. 15 and Ford's Lincoln at No. 16.
To improve their rankings, they have to focus on "reliability, reliability, reliability," said Jake Fisher, senior director of automotive testing at Consumer Reports. Often adding new features can set automakers back while they work out the kinks.
"The domestics tend to do ... a lot of big changes whereas a lot of the imports really kind of incrementally make changes," Fisher said. "To be honest, one of the problems that I think the domestics have an issue with is that they're competing with imports that often bring their models to the U.S. after a year or two in their home market, so they have an opportunity to work out the bugs."
Consumer Reports, a nonprofit consumer research and advocacy organization, selects the year's top models from hundreds of current models.
"Top Picks" vehicles have some of the highest overall scores in their categories for road test performance, predicted reliability and they receive high marks for reliability and satisfaction in surveys from Consumer Reports' members.
The organization tested more than 230 vehicles and had member survey stats on more than 300,000 vehicles that it used for both "Top Picks" and Brand Rankings.
Eight of the 10 "Top Picks" are new to the list this year: the Toyota Corolla Hybrid, Corolla Cross, Camry Hybrid, Ford's Maverick Hybrid, Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid, Lexus NX350h, Nissan Leaf and the Tesla Model 3. The Subaru Forester and Kia Telluride are back on the list after making it last year, too.
Six of the 10 also earned CR's Green Choice designation, placing them in the top 20% of vehicles that emit the lowest amount of greenhouse gases and other pollutants, based on Environmental Protection Agency data. Those vehicles are: the Corolla Hybrid, Camry Hybrid, Maverick Hybrid, Leaf, NX350h and Model 3.
The Top Picks by price:
— Under $25,000 category: Corolla Hybrid (compact sedan) and Corolla Cross (subcompact SUV).
— $25,000 to $35,000 category: Forester (small SUV), Camry Hybrid (midsize car), Maverick Hybrid (compact truck), Leaf (hatchback).
— $35,000 to $45,000 category: Telluride (mid-sized, three-row SUV), Santa Fe Hybrid (SUV).
— $45,000 to $55,000 category: NX350h (small SUV), Model 3 (all-electric sedan)
To determine brand rankings, Consumer Reports uses more than 50 science-based tests on every vehicle it evaluates, including braking, handling, comfort, convenience and fuel economy for the road-test score. An automaker's overall score is determined by the combination of the road test score, predicted reliability, owner satisfaction based on member surveys, key safety features and crash-test results, if available. Brands are then ranked by averaging overall scores of their models.
For the first time ever, German automaker BMW landed in the No. 1 spot on Consumer Reports' annual Auto Brand Report Card Rankings, barely beating last year's winner, Japanese automaker Subaru.
"BMW builds many high-performing, full-featured, and reliable models, so it's not surprising to see it at the top of our brand rankings," Fisher said in a statement. "But non-luxury brands like Subaru, Toyota, and Mazda have also consistently ranked high over the past few years, ensuring that consumers don't have to sacrifice affordability to get a high-quality car."
This year, Mini, an independent brand of BMW, jumped five positions to come in third, followed by three Japanese brands: Lexus, Honda and Toyota. Genesis, Mazda, Audi and Kia rounded out the top 10.
Tesla moved up six spots from last year, coming in at 17th place. Land Rover came in last.
Of the domestic auto brands, Buick fell back one spot to 12th place and Dodge moved up one spot to 15th and Lincoln moved up 10 positions into 16th place from improved reliability on the Corsair and Nautilus SUVs. Other Detroit brands fell to the bottom third of the rankings: Ford came in at 22nd place, Chevrolet 23rd, Cadillac 24th, Chrysler 25th, GMC 27th, Alfa Romeo 29th and Jeep 31st.
Fisher noted that even though Toyota, which ranked 6th, has an overall brand score that's higher than Detroit Three brands, it had a lower road test score than Chevrolet.
"Toyota is not the best brand," he said. "There's many domestics that perform better than Toyota."
