Despite the diesel problems, Audi took the top spot on Consumer Reports recent best brand report card.
Its around this time each year that school children of all ages find how they did in their last card marking: yup, it’s report card time!
The same happens for the automakers, if your Consumer Reports, which provides a Report Card for auto brands in the U.S. and the results, like those for some children, may be a bit of a surprise.
The brands that earned top marks? Audi and Subaru.
Subaru’s appearance at the top of the list is unlikely to surprise anyone, but Audi and its ties to Volkswagen and the diesel scandal may catch some unaware. However, there is a simple reason for the ranking, according to the magazine.
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The scoring system involves the overall score, road-test score and predicted reliability results for each tested model of a brand. The score is then averaged by brand and that produces the ranking.
“Only vehicles that are on the market and that we tested factor into the equation,” the magazine said. “The rankings don’t account for corporate practices or brand perceptions.
“Hence, Audi and Volkswagen diesel vehicles that have been pulled from dealerships—following their recall and stop-sale last year for cheating on EPA emissions tests—are not included in our car brands scoring. Consumer Reports strongly believes that Volkswagen AG, the maker of VW and Audi vehicles, should be held accountable for manipulating emissions testing with its vehicles.”
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Below are the top 10 ranked brands:
- Audi
- Subaru
- Lexus
- Porsche
- BMW
- Mazda
- Buick
- Toyota
- Kia
- Honda
The names at the top of the list aren’t surprising. They are often at the top of similar lists. To that end, the bottom of the list features many of the usual suspects, including Chrysler, Land Rover, Mitsubishi, Jeep and Fiat.
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Chrysler’s and Honda’s rankings suffered due to problems with transmissions, according to the magazine. There were several brands that didn’t get rated because they needed two models. Alfa Romeo, Jaguar, Maserati, Ram, Smart, and Tesla lack sufficient data.