Bookmarking Auto on Info pagesSupporting Auto on InfoHome or Site Layout or Site Map or Site Index or Quick Jumps or Search Engine Directory or The MartAuto InformationReliability InformationReliability PercentranksSummary of the Best and Worst Cars and Trucks Tables for Model Years 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004

The following table provides a summary of the Best Cars and Trucks Tables from 1988 to 2004 by auto manufacturer. Percentage of Model Entries in the Best Cars and Trucks Tables for Each Manufacturer by Model Year Auto Manufacturer 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Toyota 45.5% 40% 50% 57% 61.5% 67% 45.5% 73% 56% 73.5% 50% 69% 61.5% 76.5% 68.4% 58% 50% Honda 36.5% 40% 37.5% 43% 31% 11% 36.5% 27% 44% 21% 42% 31% 30.8% 23.5% 26.3% 16% 38% Nissan 18% 20% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 10.5% 8% 0% 7.7% 0% 0% 5% 0% Mazda 0% 0% 12.5% 0% 7.5% 11% 18% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 5.3% 5% 0% Subaru 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 11% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 11% 6% General Motors 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 5% 0% All others 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% From the above, it may be seen that Toyota dominates the tables of high reliability motor vehicles, and Toyota and Honda together account for the bulk of high reliability vehicles. The following charts depict this polarity for some of the more recent years. The next chart depicts the fractional shares of the Reliable Two over time - from 1988 to 2004. The next chart gives an extrapolation of the performance of each to 2008. The extrapolation is a linear regression of degree one. The general trend evident in this chart suggests that by 2008 Toyota may achieve a very considerable dominance of the best vehicles sold in North America; however, the three most recent plots suggests that Toyota's rapid expansion has made quality dominance more challenging. The following table provides a summary of the Worst Cars and Trucks Tables from 1988 to 2004 by auto manufacturer. Percentage of Model Entries in the Worst Cars and Trucks Tables for Each Manufacturer by Model Year Auto Manufacturer 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 General Motors 28.5% 30% 35% 35% 43% 29% 38% 43% 46% 66.5% 54% 42% 40% 42.9% 39.3% 33.9% 27.9% Ford 43.5% 43% 36% 34% 26% 32% 19% 16% 4% 5% 7% 4.6% 15% 7.1% 11.5% 12.9% 13.1% Chrysler 25% 25% 29% 31% 31% 36% 37% 34% 42% 21% 12% 21% 13% 14.3% 11.5% 11.3% 11.5% Volkswagen 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 3% 3.5% 6% 3.5% 15% 14% 10% 10.7% 13.1% 8.1% 4.9% Land Rover 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 2.3% 2% 1.8% 0% 1.6% 1.6% Volvo 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 2% 2.5% 4.6% 6% 3.6% 1.6% 3.2% 3.3% Jaguar 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 4% 1.8% 3.3% 1.6% 4.9% Kia 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 1.6% 4.8% 3.3% Mini Cooper 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 4.8% 0% Isuzu 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 2.5% 0% 0% 1.8% 1.6% 0% 0% Hyundai 3% 2% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 2% 3.6% 0% 1.6% 0% Mercedes-Benz 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 2.5% 2.3% 6% 8.9% 6.6% 11.3% 8.2% Saab 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 2.3% 0% 0% 1.6% 1.6% 1.6% BMW 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 2.5% 2.3% 2% 3.6% 6.6% 1.6% 3.3% Porsche 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 3.3% Suzuki 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 1.6% 0% Mitsubishi 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 1.5% 0% 0% 2% 2% 0% 2.3% 0% 0% 0% 0% 1.6% Mazda 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 1.5% 3% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% Nissan 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 3.5% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 11.5% Honda 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 2.5% 2.3% 0% 0% 1.6% 0% 0% Toyota 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% All others 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% From the above, it may be seen that General Motors has, for the past decade, dominated the tables of low reliability motor vehicles. Also, GM's reliability stature, vis-à-vis the remaining two of the Big Three, has worsened rather considerably from 1988. In 1988, Ford models accounted for 43.5% of the entries in the Worst of 1988 and General Motors models accounted for only 28.5% of the entries, but in 2004, Ford accounted for only 13.1% of the entries of the Worst of 2004 and General Motors accounted for 27.9%, more than two times that of Ford and more than four times that of Chrysler. (For more discussion of the Worst of 2004, see "The 2007 Reliability-Durability Updates: For Vehicles 2-to-3 Years Old, Toyota and Honda Account for 14 of 16 Best, GM - 18 of 57 Worst," Auto on Info, August 2007.) Nonetheless, GM has crawled back quite a bit from the reliability depths that it occupied in 1997, when it accounted for a full 66.5% of the entries in the table of the Worst of 1997. The following chart depicts the fractional shares, for each model year, of the worst cars and trucks held by each of the Big Three, exclusive of European lines. The next chart provides an extrapolation of these Big Three fractional shares to 2008, again a linear regression of degree one. For comparison, the charts depicting the fractional shares of the worst cars and trucks held by each of the Big Three for the previous three years appear below. On balance, it seems likely that General Motors Corporation will continue to dominate the worst-cars-and-trucks tables for years to come, although maybe not as pronouncedly as in the second half of the decade of the 1990s. To view the Best and Worst tables for any model year, select from the following menu table. Best and Worst of 1988 Best and Worst of 1989 Best and Worst of 1990 Best and Worst of 1991 Best and Worst of 1992 Best and Worst of 1993 Best and Worst of 1994 Best and Worst of 1995 Best and Worst of 1996 Best and Worst of 1997 Best and Worst of 1998 Best and Worst of 1999 Best and Worst of 2000 Best and Worst of 2001 Best and Worst of 2002 Best and Worst of 2003 Best and Worst of 2004         This page has been updated to include the data that became available in 2007.

Links to Amazon.com: Auto Quality Management Lit
The Toyota Way: 14 Management Principles From The World's Greatest Manufacturer  December 17, 2003	Toyota Production System: An Integrated Approach to Just-In-Time*	Decoding the DNA of the Toyota Production System (This is an article from the Harvard Business Review.)	Toyota Production System: Beyond Large-Scale Production	The Machine That Changed the World: The Story of Lean Production	A Study of the Toyota Production System from an Industrial Engineering Viewpoint	Team Toyota: Transplanting the Toyota Culture to the Camry Plant in Kentucky
* Books with an asterisk are presently unavailable at Amazon.com. They may have become collectors' items, as previously used copies were readily available. Nonetheless, the visitor may, from time to time, check Amazon.com or may try Barnes & Noble.