Mazda, BMW and Subaru are the top consumer reports for the 2021 brand

Mazda has just surpassed for the first time the annual Consumer Reports ranking of the most reliable car brands.

Mazda sales in North America grew last year despite the Covid pandemic, thanks to the popularity of its CX-9 crossover vehicle and the CX-30 seven-seat sports utility vehicle.

BMW, Subaru, Porsche and Honda completed the top five spots on the Consumer Reports 2021 Brand Report Card, released Thursday.

Alfa Romeo fell at the bottom of the list of 32 brands, behind Land Rover, Mitsubishi, Jeep and Lincoln.

To determine the classification, Consumer Reports buys vehicles anonymously from dealerships for road tests. It tests braking, handling, comfort, convenience, safety and fuel economy and includes answers to the Consumer Reports subscribers survey in its analysis.

In 2020, Porsche and Genesis (owned by Hyundai) topped the report card. Genesis fell 13 places this year “due to the expected drop in reliability between its models,” Consumer Reports said.

Lincoln saw the worst declines in the rankings, dropping 15 places to 28th. Consumer Reports noted that the brand’s redesigned sport utility vehicles, Aviator and Corsair, performed well on road tests, but had “much lower-than-average reliability.”

Last year’s first U.S.-owned car brand, Tesla, dropped five places to land at 16.

Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company was “dragged down by reliability issues with the Model S, Model Y and Model X,” Consumer Reports said.

In the United States, Tesla has recently released a voluntary withdrawal of tens of thousands of its older Model S and Model X vehicles due to touch screen failures that pose a risk to driver safety. Tesla also recalled about 9,500 Model X and Model Y vehicles over defective siding and roof bolts in November.

Tesla earned high scores for owner satisfaction and performed well on road tests, according to Consumer Reports. But only the Model 3, Tesla’s most affordable electric sedan, had reliability and an overall score high enough to be recommended by drivers by Consumer Reports.

Just behind Tesla were Mini, Kia and Volkswagen, which followed in Tesla’s footsteps and now offer pure electric battery.

At the end of the 2021 Consumer Reports ranking were Mitsubishi, Land Rover and, lastly, Alfa Romeo. Alfa Romeo fell 5 places due to “worsening reliability” and poor performance on road tests, according to Consumer Reports.