Subaru reaches top of Consumer Reports' rankings; Tesla falters

WASHINGTON -- Subaru dethroned Genesis at the top of Consumer Reports' annual ranking of the most reliable automotive brands as Tesla's Model 3 fell off the magazine's list of recommended vehicles.

Fiat came in last in the brand rankings for a third straight year, while Tesla and Chrysler both tumbled 11 spots from 2018.

The influential publication on Thursday also revealed its list of best-performing vehicles in 10 categories to journalists at the National Press Club here.

Among them: Subaru's new Ascent, named a "top pick" in the midsize SUV category.

The Consumer Reports honors will add further luster to Subaru, which has set U.S. sales records in each of the past 10 years.

"Subaru has been on a roll lately with some all-new and redesigned models that have really hit the mark. That's not easy to do," said Jake Fisher, senior director of automotive testing at CR. "It's usually the case that when brands make significant changes to their vehicles or introduce new ones, their reliability suffers and they slide down in our brand rankings. But those at the top are clearly figuring out how to buck that trend, and it's good news for consumers."

Toyota led all automotive brands with four top picks, including three new winners: the subcompact Yaris, the hybrid/electric Prius and the Avalon large sedan. The other new winner is the BMW X5, which took top honors for luxury SUVs. CR said it's one of the best SUVs its team has ever tested.

To be a top recommendation, a vehicle must score well in road performance, reliability, owner satisfaction and safety. The magazine said only vehicles that included automatic emergency braking as standard equipment were considered for the top picks list because the safety benefits are so important.

"Safety should always be standard, not a luxury reserved only for those who can afford it," CR President Marta Tellado said. "Automatic emergency braking has proven to reduce crashes and save lives. We believe it should be standard in all new cars, just as backup cameras are today."

Tesla and Chrysler were big losers in CR's reliability survey. Tesla Model 3 owners complained about loose body trim and glass defects, CR said. The demotion is a blow for Tesla, which has struggled with manufacturing issues that have caused delivery delays. After appearing to correct those problems, the earlier defects are now showing up in satisfaction scores as deliveries hit their stride.

Just two years ago, Consumer Reports named Tesla its top-ranking domestic brand.

Despite reliability problems, Model 3 owners said they love their vehicles, Fisher said.

"We have already made significant improvements to correct any issues that Model 3 customers may have experienced that are referenced in this (Consumer Reports) report," a Tesla representative said in an email, "and our return policy allows any customer who is unhappy with their car to return it for a full refund."

Last year's overall winner, Hyundai's Genesis, scored just below Subaru to rank No. 2 this year. It was followed by Porsche and Audi, which was No. 1 in 2016 and 2017.

Subaru is not without its challenges. The Japanese automaker has been troubled in its home market by increasing quality problems over the past year that have resulted in recalls, a quarterly financial loss and damage to its reputation, which has begun to spread from Japan to the U.S.

Other vehicles that lost their "recommended" status were the Chrysler 300 (in-car electronics and transmission), Dodge Charger, Acura RDX, BMW 5 series and Volkswagen Tiguan.

Reuters contributed to this report.