Tesla Named The Top American Car Brand

The annual auto brand report card from Consumer Reports names German and Japanese brands such as Audi, Porsche, BMW, Lexus, Subaru, Kia and Mazda in the top 7, but its Tesla that hits the eighth place being the best American brand by far working their way up the charts from their report card. It seems that Tesla climbed a long way since their last listing with an overall score of 73 and a road test score of 88. That's compared to the number one ranking of Audi, which has an overall score of 81 on a road test score of 86, meaning Tesla win out overall with the best road test score.

Tesla's score shot up the placings due to its reliability and customer feedback satisfaction, with the overall score been based on the brand's performance across their lines, rather than one particular model. Considering that the company had the same overall scores as Mazda just above it and only one point short of the next two, Tesla are looking in a good position to be in the top three next time around.

Reliability is one of the areas where they have suffered in the past with the Consumer Reports, even though the Model S was given the best car twice in the past. The reliability scores in the past were pulled from their 'recommended' ratings in 2015, but now it seems the company are back on top in this area, as shown by the current results. This seems to have been the same for the Model X, where the report showed the vehicle having great technology and performance, but reliability and some of its functionality let the vehicle down in the past.

It's interesting to see that the next listed American brand is Buick at number 10, then Lincoln in 15th place. Chevrolet are down in 17th place, just above Cadillac and Chrysler, with Ford sitting in 21st place, GMC at 25 and Dodge not doing that well in 27th place.

Tesla are also the brand with possibly the smallest amount of offerings with just two vehicle models along with Chrysler with their 300 and Pacifica.

The overall Consumer Report is based on a combination of 'road tests, predicted reliability, owner satisfaction, and safety.'