Consumer Reports Lists Fewer Toyotas as "Top Picks"
February 23, 2010

Consumer Reports much-anticipated and highly-coveted Top Picks list saw fewer Toyota models in years past. The beleagured automaker ranked third overall in the magazine's company report card.

The magazine announced the results of its annual survey in Washington, D.C., early Tuesday morning as Toyota executives prepared to face Congress in hearings on its safety and recall problems later in the day. The survey results will be in the April issue on newsstands March 2.

 

Two of 10 Picks Toyotas

Two of the 10 Top Picks were Toyota products: the Toyota Prius and the Lexus LS 460L. In contrast, a year ago, half of the Top Picks were Toyotas. The Toyota RAV4 and Toyota Highlander were among last year's Top Picks but the were knocked off the list when sales of those models were temporarily suspended along with a half-dozen other Toyotas in the automaker's massive recalls.

Toyota's absence made room for some new entries. the Subaru Forester and the Chevrolet Traverse took spots that the RAV4 and Highlander were likely to have taken. Also named as Top Picks were the Hyundai Elantra SE, Nissan Altima, Volkswagen GTI, Mazda5, Infiniti G37 and Chevrolet Silverado.

Company Report Card

While Toyota ranked third overall, Honda and Subaru tied for first place followed by Hyundai, Nissan and Volkswagen, in that order.

No Detroit automaker finished in the top five; Chrysler dropped in the rankings.

The magazine noticed some Ford models, specifically the Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan, rival Honda and Toyota but some rate only in the middle of the pack. Similarly, General Motors has some strong performers but the magazine said GM's overall reliability still lags. GM CEO Ed Whitacre has set a goal of improving the automaker's performance in the Consumer Reports survey.

Chrysler had six of eight models considered "worst value" by Consumer Reports. The Ram 1500 pickup is the only Chrysler recommended by the magazine, which noted most Chrysler have noisy, inefficient, unrefined powertrains; subpar interiors and poor visibility."

Toyota "Recommended" Rating May Return

Consumer Reports, in a Jan. 29 statement, suspended its recommended ratings for eight Toyota models that were covered by the stop-sales order. The magazine may restore those ratings as early as next week now that Toyota has announced a fix and repairs. -- Michelle Krebs, Senior Analyst and Editor at Large

Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:51 AM under Toyota | Comments (3) | digg this | Seed Newsvine

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