Audi Tops Tesla In Latest ‘Best Cars’ Survey From Consumer Reports; Model S Drops Over Reliability

Audi is making the best cars in the industry right now, according to Consumer Reports. The widely read U.S. magazine said Tuesday the German automaker recently scored the highest among 30 brands based on its road testing, reliability, safety and owner-satisfaction scores.

Volkswagen AG-owned Audi was named the best overall brand, followed by Subaru, Toyota’s luxury Lexus brand, Porsche (also owned by Volkswagen AG) and BMW. The top 10 includes non-luxury brands Mazda, Toyota and Kia. The only U.S. automaker to reach the top third of the list: Buick, the entry-level luxury brand from General Motors.

“Other domestic brands didn’t fare as well as Buick,” the magazine said. “Ford, Lincoln, and Chevrolet finished mid-pack and were largely bogged down by their inconsistent reliability scores. All Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) brands finished in the bottom third of the rankings, with Fiat coming in last.”

This year, the magazine dropped its best overall vehicle award that Tesla Motors’ Model S won in 2014 and 2015, but the electric luxury car wouldn’t have won for a third consecutive year anyway. The magazine says reliability issues have sent the Model S below the BMW 750i xDrive, Lexus LS 460L and the Audi A8 L, citing reliability issues with batteries, door handles and electric motors.

“They are having issues and they need to work that out before they introduce new models,” Jake Fisher, director of auto testing at Consumer Reports, told Reuters. The magazine has more than 8 million subscribers and acquires survey data from more than 700,000 car owners. Its positive car reviews are often touted by automakers.

Consumer Reports also didn’t include Alfa Romeo, Jaguar, Maserati, Ram or Smart because the magazine only has data on one or two of the models made by these brands. The brands that received the three lowest ranking were Mitsubishi, Jeep and Fiat.