SAN FRANCISCO
— For the first time in five years, a sedan rolled out
by a U.S. car company has managed to topple the Toyota
Camry and Honda Accord in a closely watched reliability
study released this week.
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.