17:52 05-12-2025

Subaru leads Consumer Reports brand rankings again

Consumer Reports has released its latest annual ranking of automotive brands, reviewed by SPEEDME.RU. The headline result: Subaru again tops the overall chart, making it two years in a row.

CR’s methodology blends several pillars: road-test performance, predicted reliability, owner satisfaction, and safety scores for models the organization has already evaluated. In this composite assessment, Subaru edged past traditional reliability darlings like Toyota and Honda and even outpaced a number of premium nameplates.

Just behind Subaru sit BMW and Porsche, followed by Honda, Toyota, and Lexus. Rounding out the top ten are Lincoln, Hyundai, Acura, and Tesla. Tesla is singled out as one of the brands that made notable year-over-year gains, driven by improvements in reliability. At the opposite end, Jeep and Land Rover once again land among the underperformers.

Shift the lens to model reliability specifically, and the pecking order changes: Toyota holds the lead, Subaru comes second, then Lexus, Honda, and BMW. The report emphasizes a pattern familiar to anyone tracking the market: steady, evolutionary updates tend to preserve reliability, while sweeping redesigns and a rush of new electronics often bring early setbacks as initial issues surface. That logic checks out—technology leaps are exciting, but they regularly ask buyers to be first adopters of systems still finding their footing.

Powertrains get a separate spotlight. According to CR, conventional hybrids on average present fewer problems than purely gasoline-powered cars. Plug-in hybrids and EVs, by contrast, more often come with additional troubles in owner surveys, though a number of models are already delivering average or better reliability. The direction of travel is clear, but the smoother experience today generally belongs to the classic hybrid formula.