Riding high praise for its Fusion and Milan models, Ford Motor Co. was the only Detroit automaker to take a spot among the most reliable carmakers in the world, according to Consumer Report's 2009 Annual Car Reliability Survey.

The findings are based on a survey of 1.4 million customers along with the magazine's own performance testing.

Only the Toyota Prius hybrid scored better than Ford's tandem of four-cylinder entrants in the category. The last domestic sedan to beat the Accord and Camry in the category was the Buick Regal in 2004.

"It's rare for Consumer Reports to see family sedans from domestic carmakers continue to beat the reliability scores of such highly regarded Japanese models as the Camry and Accord," said David Champion, senior director of the magazine's auto test center.

The new Ford Flex SUV also helped Ford improve its standing while the Lincoln division had mixed results, with the MKS, MKX and MKZ — the higher end versions of the Ford Taurus, Edge and Fusion, respectively — all performed below average.

Of the 51 Ford, Lincoln and Mercury models covered in the study, about 90 percent came in with average or better reliability.

Overall, the Honda Insight compact, leading strong results for many small cars, topped the list. The Volkswagen Touareg SUV came in dead last.

General Motors came up short in many categories but still had 20 of the 48 models surveyed notch average scores. The Chevy Malibu V6 showed better-than-average results and was in line with most reliable family sedans.

Consumer Reports said GM has many strong contenders that were just released or are still in the pipeline, though they are too new to have the necessary reliability data.

Chrysler again fared poorly, with one-third of its products registering scores that were much worse than average. Last year, Consumer Reports could not recommend even one of its vehicles, though the Dodge Ram 1500 pickup made the cut this year.

Still, Asia brands reign supreme, accounting for 36 out of the 48 most reliable models covered in the study. Toyota had 18 while Honda earned eight spots and Nissan four. Hyunda/Kia and Subaru had three each.