Tesla tops Consumer Reports rankings again, but Buick, Subaru gain

For years, the annual rankings of new cars and trucks by Consumer Reports have been a boon to import brands and trouble for American ones. Last year, that trend broke when the magazine named the Tesla Model S the best overall new vehicle, although Detroit was still under-represented in the top of the charts. This year, one Detroit brand has broken through, surging past Honda and BMW in the overall rankings and claiming the prize for best sports sedan: Buick.

Yes, that Buick.

GM's oldest brand ranked seventh out of 28 graded by Consumer Reports' surveys of 1.1 million vehicles owned by its subscribers and the magazine's own testing. Buick's improving reliability made it the top-ranked domestic brand, while Lexus, Mazda and Toyota held the top three spots overall.

"For years the domestic automakers built lower-priced and lower-quality alternatives to the imports,” said Jake Fisher, Consumer Reports director of auto testing. “Those days are gone. Today’s domestic cars can go toe- to-toe with the best.”

Among the 10 categories of new vehicles singled out as the best in their class, the big winner was Subaru, with the compact Impreza sedan, Forester SUV and Legacy midsize sedan all topping Consumer Reports' charts. In addition to Buick, GM picked up another top pick with the Chevrolet Impala for large luxury sedan; Toyota picked up two category wins with the Prius and Highlander, while the Honda Odyssey and Audi A6 rounded out the field.

[Read the full Consumer Reports Top Picks for 2015 here]

Tesla was able to hold its title as best overall vehicle thanks to acceptable, albeit not sterling, quality reports from its owners. That wasn't the case for many other brands, including Ford, all of Fiat-Chrysler, Mercedes-Benz and Nissan. Again this year, Fiat and Jeep were the two lowest-ranked brands due to quality concerns, with BMW's Mini third from last. Consumer Reports cited Mercedes-Benz as the worst performer year-over-year, with "a drop in reliability from several models," and poor scores from its entry-level CLA-Class sedan.

The magazine did take an important flyer this year: It did not name a top pick in pickups. The new aluminum Ford F-150 and Chevrolet Colorado don't yet have reliablity ratings, and the magazine says troubles with the Ram pickups and Chevy Silverado means it can't recommend them. And while Ford vehicles overall perform well in Consumer Reports driving tests, "it has a string of legacy vehicles that we cannot recommend" due to quality issues, with just the Ford Flex and Fusion earning the badge.

Consumer Reports' rankings are the most widely watched measure of quality in the U.S. auto industry, although years of complaints about poor results in hot models such as the Jeep Wrangler haven't prevented it or others from hitting new sales records. There are also a few brands missing due to low response figures, Jaguar-Land Rover chief among them. The results will only burnish the reputations of Tesla, Lexus and Subaru — and add to Tesla's arguments that it should be allowed to sell its cars without dealers — but the real question is whether it's enough to get younger buyers to give Buick another look.