Ford, Subaru and Toyota each placed two vehicles on Consumer Reports’ 2026 list of the Top 10 Vehicles, the magazine announced Feb. 3.
The influential list is based on the magazine’s road tests, reliability rankings and owner surveys.
Tesla joined Ford as the only U.S.-based brands among the 10 best vehicles this year.
Honda, Lexus and BMW each also placed a vehicle on the list.
Reflecting the high emphasis CR puts on fuel economy, automakers with broad multi-energy strategies that include gasoline, hybrid and electric powertrains fared well. The electric-only Tesla Y is the only vehicle on the list that doesn’t offer at least two of the three choices.
Separately, Mazda led Consumer Reports’ new Safety Verdict award, which rates brands by the extent of safety features on their vehicles.
Consumer Reports 2026 Top 10 vehicles
Source: Consumer Reports
Ford F-150 ‘was a no-brainer’
The Ford F-150 is the first full-size pickup to be named one of CR’s Top 10 since 2019.
That’s because there’s not a vehicle in every category that meets CR’s standards, CR director of auto test development Alex Knizek said.
“The F-series is a huge seller,” Knizek said. “When we saw the F-series quality was on the list, it was a no-brainer to include it.”
Not every category of vehicle is represented. There are no Top 10 picks for full-size SUVs, midsize pickups, minivans or sports cars for instance. That makes the award in some ways more noteworthy than others that include a winner in every category.
“It gives consumers a third-party touchpoint if they’re considering vehicles,” S&P Global Mobility principal analyst Stephanie Brinley said .
The honor applies to every trim level in each vehicle’s lineup, except the Subaru Crosstrek hybrid, which went on sale too recently for CR to evaluate. It’d be a surprise if the hybrid’s not on par with other Crosstreks, though.
Every winner has standard automatic emergency braking at neighborhood and highway speeds with pedestrian detection.
Highlights of the Top 10
“Reliability and fuel economy come to the top time and again,” Knizek said.
Usability, defined as vehicles with controls that are easy to use and minimize time the driver’s eyes aren’t on the road, ranks high, too.
“The user experience with controls is becoming more important,” Knizek said. “What features do they use every day? How distracting are they?”
Potentially troublesome features include climate controls that require the driver to go two menus deep to adjust temperature, and idiosyncratic gear selectors.
From CR’s evaluation of each winner:
Rating the top brands for vehicle safety
Consumer Reports has begun rating brands by the extent of safety features they offer on all their vehicles. It’s not uncommon for a brand’s latest vehicles to have more safety features than those that have been on the market for a few years. The new Safety Verdict tries to filter that factor out, praising brands with the most safety features on the greatest number of vehicles.
“It consolidates a lot of information into a single rating,” Knizek said. In addition to a checklist of features, the rating incorporates elements from CR road tests: braking distance and double lane change obstacle avoidance maneuvers.
The Safety Verdict has three levels:
Lincoln was the only U.S.-based brand in the Top 10. It placed fourth.
Consumer Reports Safety Verdict top 10 brands
Source: Consumer Reports
Contact Mark Phelan: mmphelan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @mark_phelan. Read more on autos and sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Ford, Tesla only U.S.-based brands to make influential CR Top 10 list
Reporting by Mark Phelan, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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