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Which Brands Make The Best Cars? CR’s New Ranking And Why Subaru Scores 2nd Best

Which automakers make the best new cars? According to Consumer Reports, Subaru is still the best non-luxury automaker in 2024. Check out the new ranking report here and what it means for customers.
2024 Subaru Crosstrek Wilderness

Who makes the best cars you can buy this year? I cover the ranking from Consumer Reports (by subscription) annually, and Subaru has the best mainstream (non-luxury) lineup of vehicles for 2024. Last year, Subaru was also the best among all mainstream car brands.

Subaru's vehicle lineup includes the high-scoring 2024 Subaru Outback midsize SUV, the 2024 Crosstrek subcompact SUV, and the 2024 Forester compact SUV. All scored high in CR's test scores.

2024 Subaru Crosstrek Wilderness in the mountains

Subaru ranks second to only one car brand, and BMW takes the top spot. Subaru again scores ahead of its main rivals Toyota, Honda, Kia, Hyundai, and even luxury brand Lexus.

In 2024, Consumer Reports ranked 34 brands based on their models' overall scores, including road tests, reliability, satisfaction, and safety. Here are the top ten car brand results. 

2024 Subaru Forester driving

The Top 10 Car Brands Luxury and Mainstream Brands and their overall score  

  1. BMW 82
  2. Subaru 80 
  3. Porsche 80 
  4. Honda 78
  5. Lexus 78
  6. Mini 78
  7. Kia 77
  8. Mazda 77
  9. Toyota 77
  10. Hyundai 76

How does CR rank the car brands?

  1. The Overall Score for individual models is based on four key factors: the road test, reliability, owner satisfaction, and safety.
  2. They put vehicles through more than 50 tests for the road test score.
  3. Predicted reliability ratings are based on problems reported by members from 20 possible trouble areas in CR's Annual Auto Surveys.
  4. Owner satisfaction predictions are based on whether CR members said in their surveys that they'd buy the exact vehicle again if given a chance.
  5. Safety includes assessing any available crash-test results and extra points assigned to vehicles that come standard with crucial crash-prevention systems. 

2024 Subaru Outback Wilderness on the trail

What does Consumer Reports say about Subaru?

"This Japanese automaker has long been synonymous with unpretentious, practical, and affordable all-wheel-drive vehicles. Subarus typically do well in our testing, thanks to roomy interiors, easy access, great visibility, intuitive controls, good fuel economy, and a comfortable ride." 

"The first electric Subaru is the Solterra, an SUV developed alongside the Toyota bZ4X. The only non-AWD model is the BRZ sports coupe, also developed with Toyota. Subarus have fared well in our reliability surveys, consistently ranking in top-10 of all manufacturers."

Subaru scored very high in its road tests, scoring 84. Only BMW (88) and Audi (85) scored better than Subaru. 

MY TAKE

Subaru scores high annually in the Consumer Reports' best car brand ranking because models like the 2024 Subaru Outback, Crosstrek, Forester, and others, except for the rear-drive BRZ, come with the Japanese automaker's Symmetrical all-wheel-drive system. 

Subaru's Symmetrical all-wheel-drive technology provides superior all-weather and severe-weather performance. You won't be sitting on the side of the road this winter waiting for a tow. 

The Subaru Boxer engine sits low in the chassis, giving all Subaru vehicles a lower center of gravity and improved driving dynamics. As I said, only BMW and Audi had better road test scores than Subaru, and Subaru tied with Porsche. 

It's important to note that all three are luxury brands with significantly higher-priced models than Subaru. Customers buying a Subaru vehicle get the best road handling performance for a value price. 

There's more that sets Subaru apart from the competition.

In addition to getting the highest road test scores, reliability, owner satisfaction, and safety, all Subaru SUVs have 8.7 inches of ground clearance, they have X-Mode for additional all-terrain performance, and the 2024 Forester, Outback, and Crosstrek now have the rugged Wilderness trim levels for outdoor enthusiasts.

This is the latest information regarding Subaru's car brand ranking in 2024. Stay tuned, and I'll keep you updated with new information. 

Until then, visit torquenews.com/subaru regularly and bookmark the page for my latest updates.

What about you? What's your opinion of the car you drive? Let us know in the comments below.

Thanks for reading, everyone. I hope you enjoyed the Subaru car brand ranking story. See you tomorrow for my latest Subaru Report.

For additional articles related to new Subaru models, here are a few of my top stories you may enjoy. 

My Must-Read Top Picks

Watch The Best Cars of 2024 | Talking Cars with Consumer Reports

I am Denis Flierl, a 12-year Torque News senior writer with 20+ years of Subaru and automotive journalism experience. I enjoy bringing you, the Subaru fans and customers, the most up-to-date Subaru news, reviews, and new model information. You'll find the latest Subaru stories on the Subaru page. Follow me on my The Dirty Subaru website, Dirty Subaru blog, SubaruReport, All Subaru, WRXSTI, @DenisFlierl, Facebook, and Instagram.

I’ve got you covered! - I cover all Subaru all the time - It’s called the “Subaru Report.” Check back daily for my expert Subaru analysis!

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photo credit: Subaru USA

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Comments

Dan Martin (not verified)    February 29, 2024 - 1:29PM

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My current vehicle is a 2021 Subaru Crosstrek Limited (Horizon Blue Pearl) with 15,000 miles. As a side note: my winter vehicle is a (one owner) 2009 Honda CR-V EX with 205,300 miles and only one repair (A/C compressor) over the life of the vehicle. This CR-V lacks a lot but has new winter rubber and all wheel drive. However it is not symetrical AWD.

The Crosstrek arrived December 18, 2021 after a three month wait. The only disappointment has been the interior and license plate lighting which I promptly replaced with whiter and brighter LED bulbs. (six bulbs from Amazon $16.99)

There is no comparison between this Crosstrek and any other vehicle we've ever driven. It is primarily driven by my wife and she couldn't be happier with it. We live in a rural and hilly area where all wheel drive is a necessity. This is our first Subaru but we will be test driving a 2024 Subaru Forester Sport next Saturday 3/9 because of the Costco Car Buying article in Torque News. There are no Costco affiliated dealerships in the State of Michigan so the test drive will be in Toledo Ohio!

When we purchased this vehicle we felt that there were missing features that had to be added on. Most importantly was an auto dimming rear view mirror. The winter floor mats were also important to us as the snow and slush can bring a lot of moisture inside. Since we are adventurous we also purchased the rubber second row seat back protector. The rear bumper guard has saved major scratches from loading into the rear hatch. The final item was the side window deflectors for our English Springer Spaniel's ventilation needs.

I was pressured by our sales person to have all of these items installed at the factory or at the dealership. We were aware that some of these items were installed at the factory but the window deflectors and floor mats were in a boxes at the closing at my request. There are several YouTube videos that are essential to watch before installing these side window deflectors. This type of installation video is something Eric The Car Guy would never have undertaken but others have done a good job with these projects. We can all appreciate a good YouTuber. I contacted Eric before he got out of the business and we discussed his frustrations and the real reasons he would not work at a "stealership" again. Mr. Boyer's efforts to bring these YouTuber's knowledge to us is much appreciated.

Back to Subaru and the latest new from carcomplaints.com. I recently received an e-mail from them that explained a new class action lawsuit over the Thermal Control Valve issue with the 2019-2021 Subaru 2.5L engines. I have been researching this matter but have not found anything on Torque News about this development. This is my one and only concern about Subaru but otherwise I am all in.

I regularly hunger for Torque News and am quickly satiated by Denis Flier's Subaru articles. I live in Michigan and follow the auto industry closely and have had discussions with Mary Conway when she was with WXYZ 7 in Detroit. I will never own another Ford, GM or Stelantis product ever again.

Daniel W. Martin