Washington.
Consumer Reports named the luxury electric Tesla S its top car for the second
straight year, calling the market-shaking sedan a “technological tour de
force.”
The annual
top-10 ranking, based on independent road performance, reliability and crash
tests, also gave top category honors to three Subaru models, a landmark sweep
for the small Japanese maker.
But the
Japanese overall won only six slots, their lowest tally since the influential
consumer ratings magazine began the list 19 years ago.
Instead,
three American brands — the Tesla, the Buick Regal and the Chevrolet Impala —
held their own in the top 10.
“Detroit
vehicles are breaking through in new categories,” said Mark Rechtin of Consumer
Reports’ car ratings team.
“Many have
come a long way in performance, technology, and improved reliability.”
“These are
the cars that ignite the gasoline in our veins. That we trust. Respect. And
love,” the magazine said.
“They also
happen to score high in our reliability ratings and shine in automotive crash
tests.”
The
$80,000-plus plug-in Tesla again captured the magazine’s fancy as its overall
top pick, and not just for the car’s market-beating 426 kilometer range without
a charge.
Consumer
Reports praised the ability to update the Tesla’s software over the Internet,
and that the company surmounted early technical problems, including a handful
of fires that started from objects on the road surface kicking into its
underside battery pack.
With those
problems aside, Consumer Reports lauded the Tesla S’s “magnificence and sheer
technological arrogance.”
Subaru,
whose all-wheel-drive models are popular with both sport driving fans and
outdoorists, led three categories of the 10.
The Impreza
led the compact car group as a “strong value,” and the Legacy was the best
midsized sedan (it “exceeds those drab, rental-car expectations … also has the
best ride among its peers”).
And the
Forester grabbed one of the hottest market segments, the small sport-utility
vehicles.
“Subaru has
nailed the recipe of combining practicality, safety, fuel economy, value, and
interior accommodations,” said the magazine.
The Audi A6
came in tops for a luxury car, and, unsurprisingly, on the green car side
Toyota’s hybrid Prius took the honors for the 12th straight year.
Toyota’s
Highlander was best mid-sized SUV and the Honda Odyssey the winner among
minivans.
But the
surprise was the inclusion of the Chevrolet Impala as the best large car,
beating out the Toyota Avalon and Lexus ES 350.
Only
slightly less surprising was the Buick Regal as the leading sports sedan. It is
better known elsewhere as the Opel Insignia, with its German roots emphasized
by Consumer Reports.
“Close your
eyes, and you’ll think you’re driving an Audi — a very good Audi at that,” it
gushed.
Agence France-Presse
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