McGrath Lexus Chicago Blog

By CHERYL JENSEN, NY TIMES

In spite of all the recalls, Toyota was ranked third in the annual spring auto issue of Consumer Reports, the same rank the carmaker had last year.

The magazine rankings are based on the performance, comfort, utility and reliability of more than 280 vehicles.

Toyota builds extremely good, reliable cars, said David Champion, senior director of Consumer Reports’ Auto Test Center. “I think once they get through all the recalls,” he said, “you’ll see that they are a very, very reliable manufacturer.”

Honda (which includes Acura models) and Subaru were tied for first place, the fourth year that Honda was the leading manufacturer. They were followed by Toyota, and Hyundai (including Kia) was ranked fourth, up from ninth last year.

American manufacturers fared poorly. Ford was ranked 11th, moving up one place from last year. General Motors and Chrysler occupied the bottom two slots, respectively.

But the big surprise was Toyota (including Lexus and Scion), though it was not all good news. The magazine ended up dropping a couple of Toyota models from the Top Picks after the company suspended sales because of the recall.

Mr. Champion said that “it was a little bit of a stretch to say we recommend you go out and buy a Highlander when you couldn’t actually go out and buy one.”

There was another surprise. Although Honda was ranked the best manufacturer, the brand did not receive a single top pick, the first time that’s happened to the company since 1998.

Top Picks are chosen from among more than 280 vehicles that Consumer Reports evaluates. They must perform well in road tests, have average or better predicted reliability and perform adequately in safety tests. They must offer electronic stability control as standard equipment or as a readily available option.

There were six new vehicles on the list, marking a shift from Japanese automakers dominating the top spots. Newcomers are the Chevrolet Silverado and Traverse, Mazda 5, Nissan Altima, Subaru Forester and Volkswagen GTI. The other Top Picks are the Hyundai Elantra SE, Infiniti G37, Lexus LS 460L and the Toyota Prius.

The Nissan Altima replaces the Honda Accord as the best Family Sedan and is one example of changes taking place in a very competitive industry.

“Honda is starting to get passed over in many categories,” said Jake Fisher, the magazine’s senior automotive engineer, even though they rank tops in the “report card.”

“Honda over all does well, they don’t have many bad vehicles. Honda used to be known for great powertrains and great fuel efficiency, and now they are behind most of the top vehicles in terms of fuel economy. That’s unheard of from Honda.”