Subaru, a Japanese automobile manufacturer edged Honda, Mazda and Toyota as it was named top in Consumer Reports magazine’s annual rankings. According to the reports, Subaru received 75 of 100 points based on the scores of its seven U.S. models. The Tokyo-based company earned its score for building “dependable, all-wheel- drive vehicles with simple interiors,” the magazine said. Subaru topped the list and was chased by Mazda, Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Volvo, Hyundai, BMW and Volkswagen. Mazda received an overall score of 74 while Toyota and Honda got 73 and 72 respectively. Subaru’s average road-test score is 82 which is the highest in Consumer Reports‘ analysis and the magazine recommends all of the Subaru models it has tested.

Rebecca Lindland, the director of strategic review for IHS Automotive, an industry forecasting firm points this as great news for Subaru.  She added that consumers still trust Consumer Reports and will take these recommendations very seriously. The annual report card of the magazine was purely based on the performance, comfort, utility and reliability of more than 275 vehicles recently tested. Overall scores of the vehicles are based on the average road test scores and reliability ratings of models tested by the magazine.

“While Japanese automakers still hold the top five spots, their lead is shrinking. In some of Honda’s and Toyota’s recently redesigned models, cost-cutting has become more noticeable,” said David Champion, senior director of the magazine’s automotive test center. Ford Motor Co. was the most improved automaker last year, but failed this time and slid to 10th place from fifth. The magazine criticized the Dearborn, Michigan-based company’s electronic interfaces and transmissions. Chrysler Group LLC, while finishing last among the 13 firms, scored eight points higher than last year, which is a really good sign for them as it shows the improvement of the automaker.

Subaru now aims to produce new genre vehicles to improve their overall reliability. Let us wait and see the next move of the automaker.

via Autonews