Toyota crossed the finish line first, again, in Consumer Reports' annual reliability rankings. The company's Toyota and Lexus brands top the survey, and its Scion brand is in the top ten. A Toyota brand has now led the rankings for eight years in a row.
Consumer Reports says Toyota's strategy of slowly introducing new features emphasizes reliability over excitement. Many brands with glitchy new electronics, including Infiniti and Mercedes-Benz, fell in the rankings. The survey predicts the reliability of 2015 model year cars and trucks based on responses from the magazine's subscribers. This year's survey collected data on 1.1 million vehicles. Mazda, Honda and Subaru joined Toyota in the top ten. Audi was the highest scoring non-Japanese brand, while Buick was the only domestic brand in the top ten. The four lowest-scoring brands were all from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles' Chrysler Group, as were five of the bottom seven. Fiat scored the lowest of the 28 brands and the Fiat 500L was named the least reliable among 265 models included in the survey. The survey is seen as a key factor in influencing American car shoppers.
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-- The Associated Press and Reuters