Coming up with a verdict on a single car is relatively easy, but one example does not reflect on the automaker as a whole.
How can you, therefore, rank the brands as accurately as possible?
The way Consumer Reports does it is the following: they add the overall score, road-test score and predicted reliability results for each model they have tested, then average the results and the number they come up with is that brand’s overall score.
To be included, CR must have data from at least two of a brand’s models, thus the likes of Tesla, Smart and Ram are absent.
Luckily for Audi, who topped the list, brand perception and corporate practices (read Dieselgate) are not taken into consideration. Even so, CR does stress that “Volkswagen AG, the maker of VW and Audi vehicles, should be held accountable for manipulating emissions testing with its vehicles”.
A non-premium brand, namely Subaru, slots in second place in front of Lexus, Porsche and BMW. In case you’re wondering where the third German brand battling for the crown in the US premium segment, namely Mercedes-Benz, is, the answer is in the middle of the pack in 14th place.
What hurt it most were predicted reliability and less than a third of its models tested being recommended that offset their top marks in road-test results. As for the worst, the Razzie belongs to Fiat, with only 38 points out of 100.
You can read the full list, as well as each brand’s score in each category, right after the jump.
