"Driven by what Consumer Reports called "wave of impressive redesigned models in the last few years," Subaru earned the top score overall in the magazine's report cards for 2012 for 13 major automakers.
The report cards - in the April issue due on sale March 6 - are based on performance, comfort, utility and reliability in the magazine's testing and consumer survey.
Three Subaru models are manufactured at the Subaru of Indiana Automotive Inc. plant in Lafayette: the Outback, Legacy and Tribeca. The plant also builds the Camry model for Toyota.
It was Subaru's first CR win ever with a brand score of 75, up two from last year. Subaru and another smaller maker, Mazda with a No. 2 finish, beat perennial winners - and much bigger companies - such as Honda and Toyota.
Consumer Reports praised the redesigned Legacy and Outback, and particularly the just redone 2012 Impreza, which is now CR's top pick in the small-sedan class. The Subaru brand's average road-test score of 82 is the highest in CR's analysis.
Honda, winner for the past four years, slipped to fourth among the 13 makers, behind Mazda and Toyota. CR said it suffered from "several redesigned models - including the Civic and Odyssey- that didn't measure up to their predecessors."
Toyota was among the top three for a fifth straight year, buoyed by consistently above-average reliability and high test scores, and had the most winning models in individual vehicle categories.
But CR's warned the Japanese makers to watch their rear-view mirrors. "While Japanese automakers still hold the top five spots, their lead is shrinking. In some of Honda's and Toyota's recently redesigned models, cost-cutting has become more noticeable," said David Champion, senior director of CR's Automotive Test Center." [Read more]
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