1980 Automobile Manufacturer Quality Ratings and Rankings
by James Bleeker

Content Summary

This page provides two rankings of the manufacturers of automobiles with more significant sales in North America from model year 1974 to 1979. Each ranking employs a different method of computation.

The statistics used in the computations for rating and ranking the car makers are those found within the April 1980 issue of Consumer Reports. The two sections providing the necessary statistics are CR's Some-Used-Car-Models-To-Avoid list and its reliability charts. Reliability is defined by the magazine as the infrequency of serious problems, which it measures annually by a subscriber survey.

The first ranking of the car makers is based on each manufacturer's infrequency of trouble-prone models. This ranking provides a measure of how well each manufacturer's models successfully avoided the bottom end of the model-quality spectrum.

The second ranking of the car makers is based on the average of the overall reliability ratings of each manufacturer's models. The second ranking provides a measure of how well a manufacturer's models performed over the entire model-quality spectrum.

Auto Manufacturer Quality by Infrequency of Trouble-Prone Models

To form a car-manufacturer quality measure from the 1980 list of Some Used Car Models To Avoid, the first step is to count each manufacturer's entries on the list. Each model year of each model is treated as a separate entry.

Next, as the number of automobile models sold by a car manufacturer varies greatly from maker to maker, it is necessary to take account of the fact that a manufacturer with more models has a greater opportunity to have more model years of low quality. To compensate for a possibly inflated, or deflated, frequency of trouble-prone model years of a manufacturer, as well as a variability in model data sufficiency, the number of a manufacturer's entries in CR's 1980 Some-Used-Car-Models-To-Avoid list is divided by the total number of overall reliability ratings for the manufacturer found in the reliability charts of the same issue of Consumer Reports. The overall reliability ratings are found in the Overall-Reliability row of the 1980 reliability charts.

By the method of computation, this quality measure begins with 0 and may run to a value some greater than 1. The value of 0 is the highest quality rating attainable by a car manufacturer and is achieved only when a manufacturer has no entry on the Some-Used-Car-Models-To-Avoid list.

The quality ranking of the automobile manufacturers by the foregoing computations, together with their quality ratings, are given in the first bar graph below. Only those manufacturers with at least 5 overall CR reliability ratings are included.

Auto Manufacturer Quality by the Average of Overall Reliability Ratings

To compute car-maker quality ratings and assemble a quality ranking using Consumer Reports' overall reliability ratings, a number is associated with each rating. A +1.0 is ascribed to a rating of Much Better Than Average, a +0.5 to a rating of Better Than Average, a 0 to a rating of Average, a -0.5 to a rating of Worse Than Average, and a -1.0 to a rating of Much Worse Than Average. Then an average is taken over all of the manufacturer's model years and models offering an overall reliability rating. CR's 1980 overall reliability ratings are found in the Overall-Reliability row of its reliability charts.

For this measure of quality, the range is from -1.0 (the worst possible) to +1.0 (the best possible).

The quality ranking of the car manufacturers by this set of computations, together with their quality ratings, are given in the second bar graph below. Only those manufacturers with at least 5 overall CR reliability ratings are included.

The Bar Graphs of Auto Manufacturer Quality in 1980

In both of the graphs that follow, the order of the car manufacturers is from best to worst.

When two or more auto manufacturers have no entry in CR's list of Some Used Car Models To Avoid, the companies are listed in descending order of number of overall reliability ratings (a manufacturer with a greater number of overall reliability ratings appears above a manufacturer with fewer ratings), as those companies with a greater number of ratings would have a greater opportunity for a trouble-prone model year to be found.

Summary and Analysis

In 1980, the Top 3 auto manufacturers by infrequency of trouble-prone models were, in descending order (best first), Toyota Motor Corporation, Daimler-Benz AG, and AB Volvo. Although all three of the automobile manufacturers had the highest possible quality rating by infrequency of trouble-prone models, Toyota had the more distinguished record as it had many more overall reliability ratings and consequently had a greater opportunity for a bad model to be uncovered. Daimler-Benz had 11 overall reliability ratings and AB Volvo had 10.

The Bottom 3 auto manufacturers by frequency of trouble-prone models were, in ascending order (worst first), Fiat S.p.A., Saab AB, and American Motors Corporation.

In 1980, General Motors Corporation and Chrysler Corporation were rather average by infrequency of trouble-prone models. Ford Motor Company was above average.

In 1980, the Top 3 auto manufacturers by overall reliability were, in descending order, Daimler-Benz AG, Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. (Subaru) and Toyota Motor Corporation, and the Bottom 3 manufacturers, in ascending order, were Fiat S.p.A., American Motors Corporation, and Saab AB. By this measure of quality, Ford and General Motors were rather average and Chrysler below average.

The two car manufacturers that are common to the Top 3 of both quality rankings:

Daimler-Benz
Toyota

The same 3 car manufacturers are common to the Bottom 3 of both quality rankings:

Fiat
American Motors
Saab

Two interesting points that the graphs show are:

1. In 1980, the legendary Daimler-Benz AG, bearer of the automotive-engineering excellence mantel for all of the 1960s, still placed higher than Toyota Motor Corporation by overall reliability.

2. In 1980, both General Motors Corporation and Chrysler Corporation were not among the worst, and Ford Motor Company was about where it would be 30 years later.

Additional Resources

To view the graphs showing the 1980 ratings and rankings of the brands of automobiles, click Go.

For a Google Knol that summarizes the changes in auto-brand and auto-manufacturer ranking by these quality measures from 1990 to 2010, click Go.

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