Mazda, BMW, Subaru Top Consumer Reports 2021 Brand card

Mazda has just surpassed Consumer Reports’ annual ranking of the most reliable car brands for the first time.

Mazda sales in North America rose last year, despite the Covid pandemic, due to the popularity of its CX-9 crossover and the seven-seater CX-30 sport utility vehicle.

BMW, Subaru, Porsche and Honda completed the top five spots on the Consumer Reports 2021 Brand Report Card, which was launched on Thursday.

Alfa Romeo fell to the bottom of the list of 32 brands, behind Land Rover, Mitsubishi, Jeep and Lincoln.

To establish the ranking, Consumer Reports buys vehicles anonymously from road test offices. Performs braking, handling, comfort, convenience, safety and fuel economy tests and includes survey responses from Consumer Reports subscribers in its analysis.

In 2020, Porsche and Genesis (owned by Hyundai) were at the forefront of the bulletin. Genesis has dropped 13 places this year “due to the predicted decrease in reliability between its models,” Consumer Reports said.

Lincoln recorded the worst declines in the rankings, dropping 15 places to 28th. Consumer Reports noted that the brand’s redesigned sports vehicles, Aviator and Corsair, performed well on road tests, but had “a reliability far below average”.

Last year’s top American car brand, Tesla, dropped five places to land at 16 years old.

Elon Musk’s electric vehicle venture was “driven by reliability issues with the S, Y and X models,” Consumer Reports said.

In the US, Tesla recently issued a voluntary withdrawal of tens of thousands of older Model S and Model X vehicles due to touch screen failures that pose a safety risk to drivers. Tesla also recalled about 9,500 Model X and Model Y vehicles in terms of defective bolts and roof bolts in November.

Tesla scored high for owner satisfaction and performed well on road tests, Consumer Reports said. But only the Model 3, Tesla’s most affordable electric sedan, had a high enough reliability and an overall score to be recommended to Consumer Reports drivers.

Left behind Tesla were Mini, Kia and Volkswagen, who followed in Tesla’s footsteps and now offer pure battery electricity.

At the bottom of the Consumer Reports ranking in 2021 were Mitsubishi, Land Rover and, lastly, Alfa Romeo. Alfa Romeo fell 5 places due to “aggravated reliability” and poor road test performance, Consumer Reports said.