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Prius Ranked No. 1 Green Car, Miata 'Most Fun'

Asians win most top rankings from Consumer Reports

By Joe Benton
ConsumerAffairs.com

February 29, 2008

The Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Crew Cab truck made the top ten as the No. 1 pickup truck on the market but the annual survey was dominated by Asian automakers. Asian imports won the nine other top picks.

Ford received a brief mention for reliability. Chrysler was tossed aside as “in the dumps.”

Honda was chosen the top automaker followed by Toyota and Subaru. BMW, Nissan, Volkswagen and Mazda all tied for fourth.

Honda vehicles were described as “well rounded cars with excellent reliability," according to David Champion, the senior director of automotive testing at Consumer Reports.

Hyundai become the first Korean automaker to make the top ten with two winners. Consumer Reports named the Hyundai Elantra SE the best small sedan and the Hyundai Santa Fe the best mid-sized SUV.

Four Toyota vehicles are on the list and that is the most of any automaker.

The survey tossed a small compliment out to Ford and GM. "General Motors and Ford have been making significant progress recently," according to the survey authors.

While more than 90 percent of Ford products are rated with average or better reliability, Ford does not have a lot of “charisma,” according to the survey.

The survey was bad news for Chrysler, characterizing the automaker as behind the rest of the industry.

Consumer Reports based the results on 1.3 million surveys returned from readers and tested 80 vehicles at its automotive facility near Hartford, Conn.

This year the survey demanded electronic stability control as standard equipment or a readily available option in order for a vehicle to make the list.

Here are the winners by category for 2008:

• Pickup: Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Crew Cab
• Small Sedan: Hyundai Elantra SE
• Family Sedan: Honda Accord
• Luxury Sedan: Lexus LS 460 L
• Green Car: Toyota Prius
• Fun to Drive: Mazda MX-5 Miata
• Small SUV: Toyota RAV4
• Mid Size SUV: Hyundai Santa Fe
• Minivan: Toyota Sienna

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