Like an illness, poor reliability can be contagious. It spreads throughout a corporation, its brands, and its products.
That’s why, every year, Consumer Reports publishes a survey, not only of the vehicles, but of the automotive brands. The magazine contends that brand reliability, for better or worse, is a reflection of corporate philosophy. Companies that nickel and dime their suppliers and those that roll out new technologies too quickly tend to have reliability issues.
“Reliability is about taking a conservative approach to new technology,” Jake Fisher, director of auto testing for Consumer Reports, told Design News. “If you take a conservative approach, reliability is better. If not, it’s worse.”
Decisions on such matters are often made at the corporate level, causing good or poor reliability to be a corporate-wide phenomenon. That’s why, this year, the top two automotive brands operate under the same corporate umbrella. Not coincidently, so do the bottom two.
Here, we offer a peek at the 10 most unreliable vehicle brands, as judged by the owners of more than 640,000 vehicles. Scroll through the slides to see the least reliable nameplates.
Read More Articles on Automotive Technology
10 of History's Greatest American Pickup Trucks
12 Vehicle Infotainment Systems That Distract Drivers
The EV Trend Is Now Irreversible
Toyota, Denso Team Up on EV Technology
GM to Produce 20 New Electric Cars by 2023
Senior technical editor Chuck Murray has been writing about technology for 33 years. He joined Design News in 1987, and has covered electronics, automation, fluid power, and auto.
|
Design of Connected Vehicle Architecture