Japan carmakers top 9 of 10 categories in U.S. Consumer Reports rankings+

NEW YORK, Oct. 28 Kyodo - Japanese carmakers came on top in nine of the 10 categories in the latest vehicle rankings for 2010 released Tuesday by Consumer Reports magazine of the United States.

Toyota Motor Corp. won top place in six categories and Honda Motor Co. did so
in two. Nissan Motor Co. topped the list in one category.
The top positions Toyota won are in family cars for its Prius hybrid, in sporty
coupes and convertibles for its Lexus SC, in wagons and minivans for its Venza,
in midsize sport utilities for its FJ Cruiser, in large sport utilities for its
Sequoia, and in pickup trucks for its Tundra V6.
Honda's Insight hybrid came out on top in small cars and its CR-V in small
sport utilities. Nissan's Infiniti M35 ranked first in upscale and luxury cars.
Mercedes-Benz's GLK came on top in upscale and luxury sport utilities.
Japanese carmakers won seven top positions in 2008 and eight in 2009. They won
all 10 categories in 2006 and 2007.
Ranking by brand, the same magazine found that Japanese manufacturers took
seven positions on the top 10 list. Toyota's Scion brand topped the list,
followed by the Honda and Toyota brands.
Nissan's Infiniti brand ranked fourth, Honda's Acura fifth, Mitsubishi Motors
Corp.'s Mitsubishi sixth, and Toyota's Lexus seventh.
Ford Motor Co.'s Mercury ranked 10th -- the only U.S. brand to make the top 10.
The remaining two are Hyundai Motor Co.'s Hyundai placed eighth and Porsche
AG's Porsche ninth.
The survey found that of the 48 models with top reliability scores, 36 were
Asian models. Toyota accounted for 18, Honda eight, Nissan four, and Hyundai
Motor Co., Kia Motors Corp. and Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. three each.
Consumer Reports is published by the Consumers Union, an independent, nonprofit
organization. This year's report was based on feedbacks from consumers who own
or lease 1.4 million vehicles.
==Kyodo
2009-10-28 22:33:43