Chevy Volt leads the most popular car survey.

Reuters
General Motors Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid car owner satisfaction annual survey, consumer reports for the second consecutive year crowned.

Ninety-two percent of the Volt owner in the influential magazine surveyed consumers, said that they earn in any case the Volt would buy back the electric car top ranking. Last year, 93 percent said the respondents that she would buy the car back.

"The Volt of two-year reign at the top of our satisfaction survey points to the trend part owner's enthusiasm for cars that are fuel-efficient, especially as we see more and more hybrid and electric models on the market," said Rik Paul, consumer reports auto editor in a statement.

The Volt, has introduced to the end of 2010 to fight with early soft sales, criticism by opponents of federal tax credits by green car and a probe Government 2011 volt battery fires, no major problems to find.

Yet following the Volt, what sales for nearly $40,000 before $7,500 federal tax credit, one has devoted among those, avoiding gas stations bragging rights. The car can be about 40 miles on an electric charge travel, before he uses a gasoline-powered engine for additional driving range.

Other fuel-efficient models contain in addition to the Volt, Toyota Camry achieved also in the investigation of consumer reports hybrid Prius and Prius C and the Nissan leaf, all-electric car.

At the other end of the spectrum, the revised small car had Nissan Versa the lowest score, with less than half of its owners say she would buy it again in any case. Other low scorers also V6-engine versions of the GM Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks and the Nissan Armada, Suzuki SX4 and Mitsubishi Outlander SUV.

Consumer reports that their responses to the questionnaire received by the owner almost 350,000 vehicles from the model years 2010-2013.

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Toyota on top in latest Consumer Reports survey

By Paul A. Eisenstein, The Detroit Bureau
Japanese automakers – led by Toyota – dominated the 2012 automotive reliability study by influential Consumer Reports magazine.

But the study showed that European makers, notably the Audi brand, made significant gains. So did General Motors, though the other two Detroit makers didn’t fare nearly as well in the annual report by the non-profit magazine.

“Ford had a pretty bad year,” said Jake Fisher, Consumer Reports’ director of automotive testing, noting that the Ford brand fell to 27th among the brands covered by the study while its sibling Lincoln marque dipped to 26th.

Toyota Motor Co.’s three U.S. brands led the annual reliability study, Scion in first place, followed by Toyota and then the Lexus luxury line. Mazda, meanwhile, landed in fourth position. Japanese makers have traditionally led the Consumer Reports study.

But European makers, on the whole, posted notable gains. Audi, one of the luxury brands owned by Volkswagen AG, surged upward by 18 spots and landed in the Top 10 for the first time – notably ahead of Japanese maker Nissan and its luxury brand Infiniti, Fisher pointed out during an appearance before the Detroit Automotive Press Association.

Audi’s upturn was the result of “a lot of blocking and tackling over the years,” said VW executive Marc Trahan, acknowledging that past years’ quality issues were a factor in Audi’s relatively weak performance in the U.S. market.

In contrast to its luxury brand, the Volkswagen marque slipped by two positions, falling to 18th in the new Consumer Reports study.

General Motors posted the biggest gain of any Detroit maker, its Cadillac brand rising 14 spots in the study, to 11th. Fisher suggested GM, on the whole, has been working to improve the quality of existing models and to ensure new products don’t experience the traditional first-year quality problems.

The annual survey is used to offer Consumer Reports readers a guide to vehicle reliability – but also serves as a component for CR researchers to decide which models to recommend or warn against.

Ford had no new models added on CR’s Recommended Buy list – but two taken off the influential guide, the Edge crossover using the maker’s high-mileage EcoBoost engine and the V-8-powered Mustang.

The maker might have done significantly better were it not for two key problems, explained CR auto chief Fisher: its PowerShift transmission, an electrically-shifted, double-clutch manual that has been faulted for drivability issues, and the MyFordTouch and MyLincolnTouch infotainment systems. The latter technology has suffered a variety of issues including ease of use and faulty software that can unexpectedly fail while in use.

“Our reaction is that their data is very much in line with our data,” confirmed Ford spokesman Mark Schirmer. He said Ford is aware of the two key problems and has been trying to address both – stressing that both the transmission and infotainment system issues are being addressed with “software fixes. These are not mechanical problems.”

The study reported problems for Chrysler, as well, though not quite as serious as for Ford. Many of the problems, noted Fisher, were experienced on higher-priced models, such as the V-8 version of the Chrysler 300. The less highly-contented V-6 version of the big sedan, however, remains on the CR Recommended Buy list.

One of the big surprises was the solid performance by the newly reborn Fiat brand, which scored “above average” with its little 500 coupe – and landed on the Recommended Buy list.

Overall, however, Chrysler slipped sharply in the 2012 reliability study.

Among the Japanese, Nissan and Infiniti slipped out of the Top 10, the mainstream brand falling four spots to 13th on the list overall.

Hyundai, which had made major gains in quality in recent years, slipped six positions to 18th overall.

The reliability study was based on responses to an extensive questionnaire submitted by 1.2 million CR readers. This year, about 80% of those replies came online allowing the magazine to ask more extensive questions than the traditional mail survey.

The study looked at scores of potential problems, from engine failures to wind noise to faulty infotainment systems. In contrast to some competing studies, Consumer Reports weighs problems like a broken transmission more seriously than a flaw with a vehicle’s radio. Another closely followed study, J.D. Power’s annual Initial Quality Survey, considers all “problems” equally.

One surprise, revealed Fisher, is that quality levels have remained largely the same over the last five years – a finding in sharp contrast to the results of other studies, such as the Power IQS. But there are big differences, nonetheless.

Where mechanical issues, like an engine failure, dominated the list of problems in the past, today it is more about electronic issues, such as the glitches with MyFordTouch.

And though some analysts contend that the gap between brands has largely closed, the new CR study shows that not to be the case. “There is still a huge span” between the best and the worst, stressed Fisher, noting that while 20% of the owners of the Ford Explorer SUV equipped with a V-6 all-wheel-drive powertrain reported problems, only 1% of the owners of the new Toyota Prius C had quality complaints.

The research chief cautioned that good reliability alone doesn’t mean a vehicle will get CR’s much-sought endorsement. The magazine gave a Not Recommended review to the Prius C, as well as Toyota’s subcompact Yaris. That model also did well in the reliability study, said Fisher, adding that “It does not break down, so it’s really lousy for a long time.”

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Honda loses top spot in Consumer Reports survey

By Paul A. Eisenstein, The Detroit Bureau

In another setback for longtime Japanese quality leader Honda, it has been knocked out of the top spot according to the annual Consumer Reports Automotive Report Card by up-start Subaru.  Honda had topped the study for the last four years but has taken sharp criticism, of late, for a variety of problems, notably with the latest version of its long-popular Civic model.

Subaru, the maker of all-wheel-drive products like the Outback and Forester also topped industry giant Toyota in the yearly measure of performance, comfort, utility and reliability.

Japanese makers retained their lead, overall, in the annual automotive study.  But, “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 Consumer Reports Automotive Test Center.

Former Chrysler Chief LaSorda Now Fisker CEO

Subaru’s lead in the Automotive Report Card might take some by surprise but the carmaking arm of Japan’s Fuji Heavy Industries has been on a tear in recent years.  It has set one annual sales record after another – even during the depths of the automotive recession, the industry’s worst in decades.

According to CR, the maker earned a score of 75 in the latest study, two points better than last year, due to better test scores for new models like the redesigned Impreza, Legacy and Outback.  Subaru’s average road test score is the highest among all makers, at 82, the magazine noted.

Honda, meanwhile, slipped by two points, to fourth among major automakers.  The maker was hurt by the poor reception given two recent updates to its line-up, the 2012 Civic and the 2011 Odyssey minivan.  But CR officials stressed that the Japanese maker is “still among the most reliable (brands) on the road overall.”

Another surprise came from Mazda, which shot to second in the Report Card, ahead of third-place Toyota.  It could be a big momentum booster for Mazda, which has been struggling to maintain sales and is about to place a big bet on its new CX-5 crossover, the first model to use the company’s advanced SkyActiv technology. Mazda claims the system will deliver near-hybrid fuel economy without the cost penalty.

Is This the Next Prius? 

Mazda showed the biggest gain of any manufacturer last year, in fact, surging from seventh to second place by increasing its Report Card score by nine points.  Mazda’s gains reflected the high scores for the new Mazda3 model – as well as the maker’s decision to drop two poor-performing offerings: the Tribute SUV and RX-8 sports car.

Toyota retained its position among the top three brands despite all the problems it has faced in recent years.  The giant maker has traditionally been a leader in various quality and reliability studies but faced a series of sharp rebukes following its problems with safety and reliability in 2009 and 2010.  It was second only to Honda in the total number of vehicles recalled during 2011, in fact, after leading the U.S. recall list the two previous years.

The Japanese leaders, nonetheless, are facing an assault from Europe, Korea and the U.S. in the automotive rankings.  But at least one challenger stumbled this year, Ford Motor Co. plunging from fifth position to tenth.  Ford’s road test score actually improved by two points but it suffered from problems with its MyFordTouch infotainment system and the PowerShift automatic transmission used in the otherwise well-reviewed Focus remake.

Jaguar Bringing XF Sportbrake to Geneva 

Ford claimed it has resolved both problems but not in time for the CR staff to measure changes in the field.

As for the other domestics, Champion noted, “GM and Chrysler are building nicer cars with each redesign. Still, their scores are dragged down by several older designs that score low in Consumer Reports testing or have reliability issues.”

As the makers replace older models, like the troubled Chrysler Sebring, Champion said he expects the Detroit makers to move up in the rankings.  Newer offerings, such as the Chrysler 200, helped the maker boost its overall score by nine points, though it remained in last place.

The Automotive Report Card is based on Consumer Reports tests of 275 different models and looks at issues ranging from performance to comfort, utility to reliability.  Each vehicle’s score balances the way it performed on the road and its reliability ranking, according to the magazine.

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Ford, Toyota worldwide increase quality survey

DETROIT - Ford Motor Co ranking in a closely monitored quality survey fell just one year after topping all mass market brands such as problems with new technology of manufacturer's injured.

In a reversal of Fortune Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp. namesake brand, which fell last year to its lowest ranking thanks to a number of harmful callbacks, moved a corresponding rebound, according to an influential study of U.S. consumers Thursday by j.d power and Associates published.

Ford, the only U.S. automaker to avoid bankruptcy and a Government bailout brand saw his namesake film 23rd-its lowest point in a Jahrzehnt--after all mass-market brands last year in 5th place, his highest ranking ever. Toyota had a rest on 7 of 21 in the last year. 25. In 2001, the Ford was the last time lower classified.

"Ford leader, at least in the mass market who try new technology in vehicles to bring," said David Sargent, j.d power Vice President of global vehicle research. "Comes with the some of the risks that it be unforeseen problems, and that's exactly what happened."

"It gives you the parity between the different vehicles and different brands much, so if you have a major problem in a specific area, that can really set on the rankings back," he added.

Toyota Lexus luxury brand captured the top spot by 4th promoted last year. Namesake and Acura brands, Daimler AG, Mercedes-Benz, Mazda, and last year's leader, Porsche followed by Honda Motor Co Ltd.

The j.d. Power study of records exposed to difficulties in the first 90 days total cost of ownership-new car owners, was carried out between February and may of this year.

The results of the survey, the most comprehensive benchmark of new car quality, are heavily used in the auto industry marketing and are considered influential in shaping consumer perceptions. It is also as a barometer for resale values and regarded as a proxy for warranty costs.

Ford customers that is too complex or sometimes function untuchtig car manufacturers of audio and internal control systems found, said Sargent. "It is not so easy to start a car because of a computer."

Mark fields, President of the Ford of the Americas, said on Tuesday before the release of the survey, that the quality of own vehicles in his series "would be mixed reviews for the year" "improved after down from" last year.

Ford was dinged early in this year when influential magazine of consumer reports has no "recommended" rating their SUV Ford Edge and the Lincoln MKX converted due to the complexity of the MyFord touch and given the MyLincoln-touch systems.

Ford has acknowledged these problems, so software changes and make offer training Ford dealer customers. He said also Tuesday it is working to simplify the use of voice-control systems in vehicles and improvements on some of its drives.

"As we in our own internal reporting problems see, we all jump on it and quickly resolve them," said fields.

On average in the industry, U.S. consumers reported 107 problems per 100 vehicles sold, an improvement of 1.8 percent from 109 issues said in the past year j.d power.

However, said the industry average for new or heavily revised vehicles slipped 10 percent to 122 problems per 100 vehicles, j.d. power. The decline is very strong in the engine/transmission and audio/entertainment/navigation categories.

Software to improve fuel efficiency sometimes leads to engine or transmission "hesitate" when accelerating or changing gears, said j.d. power.

Meanwhile issue awards in the category audio/entertainment jumped 18 percent, as many consumers complained to free their hands or voice activation systems were not intuitive or did not always function properly.

U.S. automakers in recent years has led strongly in a bid to close the gap with the Japanese car maker, Toyota and Honda, which had established a reputation for the Elimination of the shortcomings of engineering and production.

General Motors co Cadillac luxury and GMC truck brands that were only under U.S. automakers exceed the industry average is on the ninth and tenth places. Only the top-10 brands in the survey topped the industry average.

GM Chevrolet and Buick brands on 14th and 20 32 brands measured.

Ford brand ready Lincoln 17th, while the Chrysler brands namesake, RAM, Jeep and Dodge 16, 22, 25 and 32, classified.

Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters.

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