WASHINGTON 鈥� The top auto brand in Consumer Reports鈥� 2018 Brand Report Card Rankings is one that many people may not know. Genesis, the new luxury brand from Hyundai, took the top spot.
Other luxury brands 鈥� Audi, BMW, Lexus, and Porsche 鈥� rounded out the top five.
Genesis, though, only makes two models right now, and Consumer Reports鈥� Director of Automotive Testing Jake Fisher said that while the ranking is certainly impressive, it will be interesting to see if the brand can keep the top spot as it broadens its appeal with more models.
Kia was the top nonpremium brand, coming in 6th.
鈥淭his is right up there near the top and this is not a very expensive brand. This is a car company that has been able to make reliable vehicles that drive well,鈥� Fisher said.
Other top performing nonpremium brands were Subaru at No. 7, Honda at No. 9 and Toyota at No. 10.
Toyota was the only brand to receive Consumer Reports鈥� top mark for predicted reliability, which is one of the factors in the rankings. Road test scores, owner satisfaction and safety features for each brand鈥檚 models also factor in.
Acura fell to No. 22 out of the 34 brands ranked.
鈥淭his is really disappointing,鈥� Fisher said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a reputation of reliability and there鈥檚 a reputation for luxury. Unfortunately many Acura products are neither luxurious or reliable.鈥�
Alfa Romeo, Land Rover, Jeep and Fiat were the worst performers.
鈥淭hese are brands that don鈥檛 do well in our testing and they don鈥檛 do well in reliability, either,鈥� Fisher said.
Fiat finished dead last.
鈥淧eople who buy Fiats are, unfortunately, very disappointed,鈥� he said.
