Top 10 Group Includes Electric, Hybrid Cars
Consumer Reports, one of the best-known product testing companies in the U.S., has been schizophrenic about Tesla and its electric cars. On one hand they’ve been a big booster—proclaiming the Model S the best car they’ve ever tested—but on the other hand they have been a harsh critic of Tesla’s reliability and initial build quality. The Tesla Model 3, a model they initial downgraded and refused to recommend, made the organization’s prized Top 10 list for 2020. In addition, Tesla overall rose to number 11 on the list of brands ranked by Consumer Reports, the highest ranking for an American company.
As Clean Fleet Report does, Consumer Reports chose its Top 10 by category, so the list looks like this:
Under $25,000 Small Car – Toyota Corolla, including its hybrid
$25-35,000 Small SUV – Subaru Forester
Hybrid – Toyota Prius Hybrid
Midsize Sedan – Subaru Legacy
$35-45,000 Large Sedan – Toyota Avalon, including its hybrid
Midsize, Three-Row SUV – Kia Telluride
Compact Pickup Truck – Honda Ridgeline
$45-55,000 Midsize SUV – Lexus RX, including its hybrid
Sports Car – Toyota Supra
Electric Car – Tesla Model 3
While this list misses a few key segments, such as the full-size pickup market that accounts for two million trucks a year, it does cover a lot of ground. We’re impressed that, in addition to the Model 3, four models with hybrids (all from Toyota’s stable—Corolla, Prius, Avalon and Lexus) are part of the mix. Clearly, fuel economy is a factor that, along with reliability, safety and owner satisfaction, can make a car a top pick.
We’ve linked to our tests of these winners–you’ll see we generally agree with CR’s assessments.
Auto Brand Rankings
Every year Consumer Reports puts out a brand “report car” that takes into account the organization’s road tests of vehicles (they purchase all their test vehicles, unlike most other testing organizations), reliability predictions based on Consumer Report member reports, owner satisfaction from its surveys and safety based on crash test results. Often luxury brands dominate, but this year several mainstream brands scored well. Here are the Top 10 brands (with links to come of our recent tests and news).
Tesla came in number 11, moving up and tying Toyota, Lincoln and Infiniti because of improved reliability of its Model S and Model 3. Consumer Reports still does not recommend the Model X. Brands where all models were recommended include Porsche, Genesis and Mazda.
The bottom line is choice has never been better as the variety and quality of vehicles on the market is higher than ever, and the fuel efficiency we crave is a key element for many of these cars.
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