Yonkers, New York – The 2008 Annual Car Reliability Survey released by Consumer Reports reveals that fuel-efficient vehicles are a very reliable segment overall, European cars are improving, Japanese cars lead the industry and, on average, Ford continues to build the most reliable American cars.

The survey details, along with a list of models with the best and worst predicted reliability ratings, will appear first on Consumer Reports’ website and then in its December issue, as well as in its latest publication, Best & Worst for ‘09.

A total of nine hybrid models for which the magazine has sufficient data rated “above average” in predicted reliability. In Family Cars, the Toyota Prius, Toyota Camry Hybrid, Nissan Altima Hybrid and Lexus GS 450h sedan are all among the most reliable. In midsize SUVs, the Lexus RX 400h and Toyota Highlander Hybrid are among the most reliable, while the Ford Escape Hybrid and its sibling Mercury Mariner Hybrid (a model not sold in Canada) rated above average in small SUVs. The Honda Civic Hybrid also rated above average, along with conventional fuel-efficient cars such as the Honda Fit, Scion xD (not sold in Canada), Smart Fortwo and Toyota Yaris.

Ford, Lincoln and Mercury led the domestic automakers and continued to pull away from the rest of Detroit; except for some truck-based vehicles, almost all Ford products are now “average” or better. Excluding those, Ford’s reliability is now on par with good Japanese automakers, with the Ford Fusion and its sibling Mercury Milan continued to rank among the most reliable family cars, while the Ford Focus rated “above average”.

European automakers, particularly Mercedes-Benz, showed signs of a comeback, with six models, including the redesigned C-Class and E-Class V6 sedans and the ML350 SUV, that have improved to “average” reliability and are now recommended. Last year, no Mercedes models had average or better reliability and so could not be recommended by the magazine.

Overall, Japanese cars remain the most reliable overall, leading 15 of 16 categories in predicted reliability ratings, with the Scion xD showing the best reliability score for all new cars, with about 80 per cent fewer problems than the average model.

Some of the observations from the report include:

- One-third of Mercedes-Benz models have reliability problems, and no models scored above average; the brand moved up from 32 in the ranking last year to 27 in the magazine’s survey. Two-thirds of Audi’s line-up scored average or better, while most versions of the BMW 3 Series and some 5 Series are average are better. Volvo also improved, leaving only the redesigned XC70 wagon below average in reliability.

- Last year, Consumer Reports called out the Toyota Camry V6, Tundra V8 4WD and Lexus GS AWD for slipping to below average, but for this year, all 42 of the Toyota, Lexus and Scion models in the survey scored average or better, and the three models noted above scored average.

- Nissan showed improvement, with the troublesome Armada SUV, Titan pickup and Infiniti QX56 SUV finally gaining average reliability. The Nissan Rogue and Infiniti EX have started out above average. Nissan moved up by brands to 14th place, an improvement of six places, while Infiniti moved up one spot to sixth place.

- Hyundai and Kia rank with the better Japanese makers, with most models scoring above average or better.

- General Motors is mixed, with the redesigned Chevrolet Malibu showing above-average reliability for the four-cylinder and average for the V6, while the Buick Lucerne and four-cylinder Pontiac G6 are both above average, and the Chevrolet Avalanche is now average. A quarter of GM models are still well below average. The Cadillac CTS, Buick Enclave, GMC Acadia and Saturn Outlook did well in the magazine’s testing but were below average in reliability.

- Chrysler trails the pack; although the Dodge Caliber and Jeep Patriot are above average, almost two-thirds of Chrysler products rate below average. The Chrysler Town & Country, Dodge Grand Caravan, Chrysler Sebring V6, Dodge Avenger and Jeep Liberty earned low scores, and the Sebring convertible had the worst predicted reliability score at 283 per cent worse than average.

Findings are based on responses on more than 1.4 million vehicles owned or leased by subscribers to Consumer Reports or its website; the survey was conducted in the spring of 2008 and covered model years 1999 to 2008.