Consumer Reports 10 ‘Top Pick’ Cars for 2024

This year’s top 10 includes many new vehicles that weren’t on the 2023 list.

Dan Carney, Senior Editor

February 27, 2024

10 Slides

At a Glance

  • Trend toward electrification
  • Seven new entries in the Top 10
  • Six cost less than $30,000

The annual roundup of ten “Top Pick” cars from Consumer Reports for 2024 shakes things up, with only three cars returning from last year’s roster and seven new models.

This list downplays things like style or driving fun to focus on practical factors such as price, safety, and efficiency. The organization also considers its surveys to include predicted reliability and owner satisfaction in the ratings.

This year’s theme is a shift to electrification. That doesn’t mean the Top Picks are all battery-electric EVs, but many of them incorporate some level of electrification as either a hybrid-electric model or a plug-in hybrid. Currently, electrified models account for just 16.3 percent of U.S. light-duty vehicle sales according to Ward’s Intelligence.

Consumer Reports’ new Top Picks list demonstrates that models with fully or partially electrified powertrains can surpass the overall performance of their conventional counterparts,” said Alex Knizek, manager of automotive testing and insights for Consumer Reports. “Among the standouts this year are one EV, three PHEVs, and three hybrids.”

Consumer Reports realizes that for good cars to be beneficial, they must be affordable so consumers can actually buy them. The organization named six cars in their top 10 whose base prices start at less than $30,000, while the average price paid for a new vehicle is more than $48,000.

Related:Consumer Reports 10 'Top Pick' Cars for 2023

To see which ones might be suitable for your driving needs, click through our slide show.

About the Author(s)

Dan Carney

Senior Editor, Design News

Dan’s coverage of the auto industry over three decades has taken him to the racetracks, automotive engineering centers, vehicle simulators, wind tunnels, and crash-test labs of the world.

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