Audi, Subaru Top Consumer Reports' Best Brands List, Fiat Finishes Last

Each year, Consumer Reports releases their annual Brand Report Card. This ranking of the top automotive brands is meant to help drivers decide which automakers are most reliable and which have some work to do. This year's list ranked Audi, Subaru, and Lexus in the top three spots, while Italian automaker Fiat came in last. 

Perhaps not surprisingly, the top ten on the magazine's list was dominated by European and Japanese brands. Porsche and BMW rounded out the top five behind Audi, Subaru, and Lexus. Mazda was sixth, Buick was seventh, and Toyota, Kia, and Honda rounded out the top 10. Audi, Subaru, and Mazda were also the only three brands on the list to have every one of their models recommended.

Buick was the only domestic nameplate to make it into the top 15. Ford came up one spot shy, followed by Lincoln in seventeenth. But while Buick made the top ten, GM's other brands didn't fair as well. Consumer Reports would only recommend 27 percent of Chevrolet's vehicles, 25 percent of Cadillac's, and 17 percent of GMC's. But as far as domestic brands go, there's one that did much worse than both Ford and GM.

Ever since they began selling cars in the U.S. in the 1970's,  Fiat has been known by the acronym, "Fix It Again Tony." Consumer Reports apparently feels this is a statement of fact, rather than just a subtle jab at the Italian manufacturer's reliability, as they ranked Fiat last on their list and didn't recommend a single one of their models. The brand's American derivative, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, fared just as well as their parent company, with Dodge, Jeep, and Chrysler all finishing in the bottom six.

Dodge was the only FCA nameplate to earn a recommendation, with Consumer Reports suggesting 17 percent of their models. Chrysler, Fiat, and Jeep all earned zero percent in the recommendations category. Surprisingly, Jeep, which has become more popular in the U.S. because of low gas prices, finished next to last on the magazine's list.

This is the ninth consecutive year that Consumer Reports has put together this report card because, "it’s not enough to make cars that drive and handle well," said Jake Fisher, Consumer Reports director of automotive testing. "Consumers are best served when those vehicles are also highly reliable and safe."