|
|
Average Product-Quality Ranks of Most Auto Brands
Available in the U.S.
by James Bleeker
Content Summary
This page provides 4 tables of quality-rank averages for most of the
automobile brands available in North America. Each table employs a different method
for computing the quality rank of the brands.
The statistics used in the computations for ranking the car brands are those found within the April issues of Consumer Reports. The two sections providing the necessary statistics are CR's Used-Cars-To-Avoid lists 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 and third tables provide the average ranks of the car brands based on each manufacturer's infrequency of trouble-prone models. These
average ranks provide a measure of how well each manufacturer's models successfully avoided the bottom end of the model-quality spectrum
for the years 1980, 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, and 2010.
The second and fourth tables provide the average ranks of the car brandss based on
the average of the overall reliability ratings of each manufacturer's
models. The average ranks provide a measure of how well a manufacturer's
models performed over the entire model-quality spectrum in each of the years 1975, 1980, 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, and 2010.
Auto Brand Quality by Infrequency of Trouble-Prone Models
To form a car-brand quality measure from each of the annual lists of Used Cars To Avoid, the first step is to count each
brand'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 brand varies greatly from
brand to brand, it is necessary to take account of the fact that a brand 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
brand, as well as a variability in model data sufficiency, the number of a
brand's entries in
a Used-Cars-To-Avoid list is divided by the total number of overall
reliability ratings for the brand found in the reliability charts of
the same issue of Consumer Reports.
Finally, the automobile brands with at least 5 overall reliability
ratings are ordered from best to worst for each of the years 1980, 1985,
1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, and 2010. The best brand in a given year has
a quality rank of 1. The worst quality rank varies from year to year and
ranges from 22 to 34.
Automobile brands with a rank in at least one year include Acura, AMC,
Audi, BMW, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Datsun, Dodge, Eagle, Fiat,
Ford, GMC, Honda, Hyundai, Infiniti, International Harvester, Isuzu, Jaguar,
Jeep, Lexus, Lincoln, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Mercury, Mini Cooper,
Mitsubishi, Nissan, Oldsmobile, Peugeot, Plymouth, Pontiac, Porsche, Saab,
Saturn, Scion, Subaru, Suzuki, Toyota, Volkswagen, and Volvo.
The first table provides the average quality ranks of the automobile
brands by these
computations, where the average is taken over the above 7 years. To be
included in the table, the brand must have been ranked in at least 3
years.
The third table provides the average quality ranks of the automobile
brands by these
computations, where the average is taken over the 3 most-recent of the above
7 years. To be included in the table, the brand must have
been ranked in at least 2 years.
Auto Brand Quality by the Average of Overall Reliability Ratings
To compute car-brand quality ratings and compute a quality rank using
Consumer Reports' overall reliability ratings, a number is first associated with
each of CR's overall ratings. 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 brand's model years
and models offering an overall reliability rating. Lastly, the automobile
brands with at least 5 overall reliability ratings are ordered from
best to worst for each of the years 1975, 1980, 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000,
2005, and 2010. The best brand in a given year has a quality rank of
1. The worst quality rank varies from year to year and ranges from 20 to 34.
Automobile brands with a rank in at least one year include Acura, AMC,
Audi, BMW, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Datsun, Dodge, Eagle, Fiat,
Ford, GMC, Honda, Hyundai, Infiniti, International Harvester, Isuzu, Jaguar,
Jeep, Lexus, Lincoln, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Mercury, Mini Cooper,
Mitsubishi, Nissan, Oldsmobile, Peugeot, Plymouth, Pontiac, Porsche, Saab,
Saturn, Scion, Subaru, Suzuki, Toyota, Volkswagen, and Volvo.
The second table provides the average quality ranks of the automobile
brands by these
computations, where the average is taken over the above 8 years. To be
included in the table, the brand must have been ranked in at least 3
years.
The fourth table provides the average quality ranks of the automobile
brands by these
computations, where the average is taken over the 3 most-recent of the above
8 years. To be included in the table, the brand must have been ranked in at least 2
of the 3 most-recent years.
Note: As overall reliability ratings were not offered by Consumer Reports in 1995, Auto Reliability Percentrank averages were used for ranking the automobile
brands.
The Tables of Average Auto-Brand-Quality Ranks from Best
to Worst
Auto-Brand Average Product-Quality Rank by Infrequency of
Trouble-Prone Models for Years 1980, 1985, 1990, 1995,
2000, 2005, and 2010 |
Auto
Brand |
Average Rank |
Toyota |
3.0 |
Toyota's Lexus |
4.3 |
Nissan's
Infiniti |
5.3 |
Suzuki |
6.3 |
Honda's Acura |
6.4 |
Honda |
7.6 |
Nissan |
9.8 |
Volvo |
10.6 |
BMW |
10.7 |
Mercedes-Benz |
10.7 |
Subaru |
10.9 |
Mazda |
11.0 |
Ford's Lincoln |
12.4 |
Mitsubishi |
13.5 |
Ford's Mercury |
14.3 |
General
Motors' Buick |
15.0 |
Porsche |
15.3 |
Volkswagen's Audi |
15.6 |
General
Motors' Saturn |
17.3 |
General
Motors' Cadillac |
17.4 |
Ford |
17.6 |
Hyundai |
18.5 |
Isuzu |
18.8 |
General
Motors' Oldsmobile |
19.0 |
Chrysler's Plymouth |
19.0 |
Saab |
19.3 |
Chrysler's Dodge |
21.1 |
Volkswagen |
21.3 |
General
Motors' Chevrolet |
23.4 |
General
Motors' GMC |
23.7 |
Chrysler |
23.9 |
General
Motors' Pontiac |
24.0 |
Chrysler's Jeep |
25.2 |
Auto-Brand Average Product-Quality Rank by Overall
Reliability for Years 1975, 1980, 1985, 1990, 1995,
2000, 2005, and 2010 |
Auto
Brand |
Average Rank |
Toyota's Lexus |
2.3 |
Toyota |
2.6 |
Honda's Acura |
3.2 |
Honda |
3.7 |
Nissan's
Infiniti |
4.0 |
Nissan's
Datsun |
4.3 |
Subaru |
5.7 |
Mazda |
7.5 |
Nissan |
7.7 |
Mercedes-Benz |
10.3 |
BMW |
10.7 |
Mitsubishi |
11.3 |
Suzuki |
11.3 |
Ford's Lincoln |
12.8 |
Volvo |
13.5 |
Porsche |
14.3 |
Ford's Mercury |
15.1 |
Isuzu |
15.3 |
General
Motors' Saturn |
16.3 |
General
Motors' Buick |
16.9 |
Ford |
16.9 |
Saab |
17.9 |
Volkswagen's Audi |
18.0 |
General
Motors' Oldsmobile |
18.0 |
Volkswagen |
18.4 |
Hyundai |
18.8 |
General
Motors' Cadillac |
20.0 |
AMC |
20.0 |
General
Motors' Chevrolet |
22.1 |
Chrysler's
Dodge |
22.4 |
Chrysler's
Plymouth |
22.4 |
General
Motors' Pontiac |
22.8 |
Chrysler |
25.1 |
General
Motors' GMC |
25.5 |
Chrysler's
Jeep |
26.0 |
Jaguar |
27.3 |
Auto-Brand Average Product-Quality Rank by Infrequency
of Trouble-Prone Models for Years 2000, 2005, and 2010 |
Auto
Brand |
Average Rank |
Honda's Acura |
2.3 |
Toyota |
2.3 |
Toyota's Lexus |
4.3 |
Nissan's
Infiniti |
5.0 |
Subaru |
5.0 |
Suzuki |
5.5 |
Honda |
7.0 |
Hyundai |
8.5 |
Nissan |
9.3 |
Mazda |
11.0 |
Mitsubishi |
12.0 |
General
Motors' Buick |
13.7 |
Ford's Mercury |
13.7 |
BMW |
14.0 |
Ford |
16.0 |
Porsche |
17.0 |
Ford's Lincoln |
18.0 |
Volvo |
18.3 |
Mercedes-Benz |
19.0 |
Saab |
19.0 |
Volkswagen's
Audi |
19.3 |
General
Motors' Saturn |
20.7 |
Isuzu |
21.5 |
Chrysler's
Jeep |
22.0 |
General
Motors' Cadillac |
23.3 |
General
Motors' Pontiac |
24.7 |
Volkswagen |
25.0 |
General
Motors' Oldsmobile |
25.5 |
Chrysler's
Dodge |
25.7 |
General
Motors' Chevrolet |
26.3 |
Chrysler |
26.7 |
Chrysler's
Plymouth |
29.5 |
General
Motors' GMC |
30.7 |
Auto-Brand Average Product-Quality Rank by Overall
Reliability for Years 2000, 2005, and 2010 |
Auto
Brand |
Average Rank |
Toyota |
2.3 |
Toyota's Lexus |
2.7 |
Nissan's
Infiniti |
3.7 |
Honda's Acura |
4.0 |
Honda |
4.3 |
Subaru |
6.0 |
Mazda |
9.0 |
Hyundai |
9.5 |
Nissan |
9.7 |
Suzuki |
10.5 |
Mitsubishi |
12.0 |
BMW |
13.3 |
Ford's Lincoln |
13.7 |
Ford's Mercury |
15.0 |
Ford |
15.3 |
General
Motors' Saturn |
16.3 |
Volvo |
16.7 |
General
Motors' Buick |
16.7 |
Porsche |
19.0 |
Isuzu |
19.5 |
Mercedes-Benz |
21.0 |
Volkswagen's
Audi |
21.3 |
Saab |
21.7 |
General
Motors' Chevrolet |
23.3 |
General
Motors' Pontiac |
23.7 |
General
Motors' Oldsmobile |
24.0 |
General
Motors' Cadillac |
24.7 |
Volkswagen |
25.3 |
Chrysler |
26.0 |
Chrysler's
Dodge |
26.7 |
Chrysler's
Jeep |
27.0 |
General
Motors' GMC |
29.0 |
Chrysler's
Plymouth |
30.0 |
Summary and Analysis
Some important points from the foregoing tables are:
1. By both quality rankings and for both
time periods, Toyota Motor Corporation's Toyota and Lexus brands
were in the top 3.
2. By both quality rankings and for both
time periods, brands by Chrysler and General Motors account for
8 or more of the bottom 10.
Additional Resources
To view the quality ratings of all of the auto brands for a given year,
click the applicable year.
2010
2005
2000
1995
1990
1985
1980
1975
To view the quality ratings of the 10 best auto brands for a given year,
click the applicable year.
2010
2005
2000
1995
1990
1985
1980
1975
To view the quality ratings of the 10 worst auto brands for a given year,
click the applicable year.
2010
2005
2000
1995
1990
1985
1980
1975
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.
AutoOnInfo.net: The auto-quality website with the
Open Directory Cool Site Award.
|