- Lincoln climbs 17 spots as Detroit brands struggle in CR data.
- Tesla reaches its highest CR position, landing in the top ten.
- Asian automakers again dominate overall brand rankings table.
The average new car now costs almost $50,000 and Consumer Reports’ latest study has some solid advice for buyers hoping to get the best car they can for that cash: think twice before sending it Detroit’s way.
Just one established American name made it into CR’s 2026 Automotive Brand Report Card top 10. Technically, there’s one more U.S. brand on the list, but legacy status doesn’t apply in that case.
The rankings in this case reflect the overall quality of each brand’s vehicles, based on the average scores of their new models. These scores combine CR’s road test results, safety evaluations, and reliability and owner satisfaction data.
Of the big domestic manufacturers from Detroit, Lincoln is the sole brand celebrating, landing at seventh place after a dramatic 17-spot leap thanks to much-improved reliability. That means the fancy Fords are doing something right, even as their mainstream siblings continue to rack up recall after recall.
Related: CR’s Top 10 Vehicles For 2025 See Japanese Brands Dominate
But beyond Lincoln’s surprising glow-up? The scenery gets bleak, based on the road tests, predicted reliability scores and owner satisfaction ratings of 380,000 vehicles that help form the overall brand rankings.
Cadillac sits at 17th, Chevrolet slides in at 24th and GMC and Jeep are both in the basement fighting over who forgot to turn the lights off. Jeep comes off worst, finishing in last place for the third year running, separated from GMC in the final rankings by the reliably unreliable Land Rover.
Dodge is right there with them, and proving that it’s not just the old-timer Yanks that are struggling, Rivian also remains near the bottom, placing just one rung above Alfa Romeo.
Subaru
Check out Tesla, though, which bucks the trend, climbing from 18th to 10th place, its best ever showing, meaning it outperformed Mini, Kia, Nissan, Mazda, Genesis and Audi in that order.
Meanwhile, the top of the list looks like a group photo from a Tokyo tech company’s office car park with a few notable exceptions. Subaru takes the overall crown for the second year running and BMW, Porsche, Honda, Toyota, Lexus, Hyundai, and Acura follow close behind.
What About Reliability?
CR breaks out a separate ranking based solely on brand predicted reliability, which it bases on survey data from hundreds of thousands of members who report the issues they’ve experienced with their vehicles. And here, the leaderboard shifts.
While Subaru wins the overall report card, Toyota takes the top reliability honors, followed by Subaru, Lexus, and Honda. BMW and Buick also make the reliability top 10, despite being less frequently associated with durability in the public imagination. Lincoln, which cracked the overall top 10, sits much lower here at 20th.
CR 2026 Brand Predicted Reliability
1Toyota
2Subaru
3Lexus
4Honda
5BMW
6Nissan
7Acura
8Buick
9Tesla
10Kia
11Ford
12Hyundai
13Audi
14Mazda
15Volvo
16Volkswagen
17Chevrolet
18Cadillac
19Mercedes-Benz
20Lincoln
21Genesis
22Chrysler
23GMC
24Jeep
25Ram
26Rivian
Consumer Reports
Elsewhere, Nissan and Acura land in the top 10 for predicted reliability, even if their overall scores are lower. Kia is in the mix as well. Tesla, on the other hand, ranks ninth in reliability but still outpaces several legacy brands overall.
At the bottom of the table, Ram, Rivian, Jeep, and GMC round things out, with Rivian finishing dead last, a sign that growing pains remain very real for newer EV players.
Hybrids Are More Reliable, PHEVs and EVs Less So
CR also highlights the rising reliability gap between electrified drivetrains. Hybrids like the Toyota RAV4, remain the gold standard, reporting 15 percent fewer issues than gas cars, while EVs and PHEVs report 80 percent more.
“With so many newly introduced EVs and PHEVs, along with the still relative newness of the technology, these growing pains were inevitable,” says Jake Fisher, senior director of auto testing for Consumer Reports. “However, we are seeing evidence in our survey that some EVs are improving as they age, and there are some reliable models available.”
Still, reliability isn’t consistent across all electrified models, even within the same brand. Some automakers have both hits and misses. Hyundai, for instance, scores well with its hybrid and EV offerings overall, but the Sonata Hybrid falls below average. Toyota and Lexus remain standouts, yet several newer plug-in hybrids from other automakers continue to stumble.
Basically, simpler systems tend to cause fewer headaches. Hybrids avoid the added complexity of external charging and rely on more established components, which likely explains their stronger reliability scores.
CR 2026 Best Automotive Brands
BRAND
SCORE
Subaru82
BMW82
Porsche79
Honda76
Toyota75
Lexus75
Lincoln75
Hyundai74
Acura73
Tesla72
Mini72
Kia72
Nissan70
Mazda69
Genesis69
Audi69
Cadillac68
Ford67
Mitsubishi67
Buick65
Volvo65
Volkswagen65
Mercedes-Benz64
Chevrolet62
Chrysler61
Rivian58
Alfa Romeo55
Dodge55
GMC55
Land Rover52
Jeep48
Consumer Reports
