American Auto Makers just need to make better cars

American automobile manufacturers are under the gun from the government, having received massive bailout funds and are scrambling to prove to the American people that it was not a wasted effort. Well, the answer is simple really. They just need to make better cars. For once, something seems to boil down to the product. The one domestic manufacturer that received very little help from the government, seems to be hanging in there, and making some of the best cars in the world right now.

Ford Motor Co. has secured its position as the only domestic automaker with world-class reliability, according to a report released today by Consumer Reports at a lunch event in Detroit hosted by the Automotive Press Association.

The findings for the trusted magazine’s 2009 Annual Car Reliability Survey are from 1.4 million consumer surveys combined with its own performance testing.

• PHOTO GALLERY: See the most reliable models.

• PHOTO GALLERY: See the least reliable models.

Of the 51 Ford, Mercury and Lincoln cars and trucks surveyed by Consumer Reports, 90% were average or better.

The Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan midsized sedans ranked higher than any other family sedan, except for the Toyota Prius hybrid car.

That’s noteworthy because the Ford Fusion, which is the 10th best selling vehicle in America so far this year, outperformed the better selling Toyota Camry (No. 2) and Honda Accord (No. 4).

“It’s rare for Consumer Reports to see family sedans from domestic automakers continue to beat the reliability scores of such highly regarded Japanese models as the Camry and Accord," David Champion, senior director of Consumer Reports’ Automotive Test Center, said in a statement.

While the Ford Flex SUV also performed well, the all-wheel drive versions of Ford’s luxury Lincoln brand faltered, the magazine said.

Mixed results at GM

Meanwhile, Consumer Reports said its survey revealed mixed results for General Motors and showed that Chrysler continues to struggle with reliability

Consumer Reports said that 20 of 48 GM models have average reliability scores while the Chevrolet Malibu V6 has shown better-than-average scores. Also, the reliability scores for the Chevrolet Silverado and the GMC Sierra 1500 pickups improved enough to earn Consumer Reports recommendation.

Consumer Reports said the reliability of more than one-third of Chrysler’s cars and trucks continue to be worse than average.

Last year, Consumer Reports did not recommend any Chrysler product either because of mediocre performance, poor reliability scores, or both.

This year, Consumer Reports said it is recommending one vehicle — the four-wheel drive version of the redesigned Dodge Ram 1500 pickup.

Asians still dominate

Despite Ford’s strong performance and GM’s bright spots, Asian brands continued to dominate Consumer Reports nameplate rankings for predicted reliability.

To calculate predicted-reliability ratings, Consumer Reports averages the overall reliability scores for the most recent three model years

Ford’s Mercury brand, ranked 10th, is the only nameplate in the Top 10 listing. Others in the top 10, in order, are: Scion, Honda, Toyota, Infiniti, Acura, Mitsubishi, Lexus, Hyundai and Porsche.