WASHINGTON — The top auto brand in Consumer Reports’ 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 — Audi, BMW, Lexus, and Porsche — rounded out the top five.
Genesis, though, only makes two models right now, and Consumer Reports’ 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.
“This 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,” 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’ 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’s models also factor in.
Acura fell to No. 22 out of the 34 brands ranked.
“This is really disappointing,” Fisher said. “There’s a reputation of reliability and there’s a reputation for luxury. Unfortunately many Acura products are neither luxurious or reliable.”
Alfa Romeo, Land Rover, Jeep and Fiat were the worst performers.
“These are brands that don’t do well in our testing and they don’t do well in reliability, either,” Fisher said.
Fiat finished dead last.
“People who buy Fiats are, unfortunately, very disappointed,” he said.
