The German automaker beat out the likes of Subaru, Honda, and Toyota.
Luxury brand BMW has climbed to the top of the Consumer Reports (CR) chart, beating brands like Subaru and Honda for the top spot.
The well-known survey looks at several important aspects of car ownership, such as road-test performance, owner satisfaction, safety, and reliability. BMW's strong results in the road test and owner satisfaction categories pushed the brand to first place.
It's not hard to see why, as the Munich-based brand continues to introduce consistently good vehicles like the 3 Series. The recipient of a recent update, the compact sports sedan does very little wrong, and this theme continues across the range with little deviation.
According to CR's Jake Fisher, BMW also made significant improvements in reliability and continues to innovate in the infotainment sphere, where it also strives to create intuitive interfaces, reports Automotive News.
The luxury brand scored a total of 81 points (out of a possible 100), miles ahead of traditional rivals Audi (74) and Mercedes-Benz (56).
BMW-owned Mini occupied third place. The usual suspects also performed well, with Lexus, Toyota, Subaru, Honda, Kia, and Genesis appearing in the top 10. Genesis saw the greatest overall growth, with the Korean luxury brand moving up 12 positions from 2022. Last year, the automaker occupied the 19th position but finished in a solid 7th place this year.
Lincoln also saw significant improvements and moved up 10 positions compared to the previous survey. This, says CR, is primarily due to the reliability and safety technology improvements. Tesla - a brand that still struggles with quality niggles - has also advanced in the rankings, which is very promising for the all-electric automaker.
Companies that didn't do quite as well were Porsche and Chrysler. This, however, can be explained away by their smaller model lineups. "There aren't a lot of vehicles in [their] product [lineups]. So just one or two vehicles faltering can really move them quite a lot in the rankings," explained Fisher.
All that Chrysler currently offers is the Pacifica and the 300 sedan, which is on the way out. The American automaker's poor showing concerns the Pacifica Hybrid's poor reliability ratings, which dragged the average score down.
Despite finishing with a decidedly mundane 62 points, the Stellantis-owned company beat out premium brands like Alfa Romeo (53), Jaguar (52), and Land Rover (45). The British off-roading specialists scored poorly owing to decreased reliability and comfort as the brand chases enhanced off-road ability.
As for the domestic brands, it's Buick that came home with the best overall results, finishing in 12th position with 71 points. Dodge finished on 68 points, while Ford - the automaker with the most recalls in 2022 - finished ahead of Chevrolet and Cadillac.
At the same time, CR also revealed its top 10 picks for cars, trucks, and SUVs. Hybrid models dominated the list, including the Toyota Camry and Corolla hybrids, Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid, Lexus NX 350h, and the Ford Maverick Hybrid. The Tesla Model 3 has also rejoined the list.
"There are a lot of high-selling vehicles that guzzle gas," added Fisher. "And when we see fast and efficient (hybrid) models, it is clear they don't need to."
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