Top 10 Best Car Brands in the United States

Mixi November 18, 2021 | 06:09

The best car brands in the US have been named this year, with 10 companies in the rankings.

Best car brands, Photo: KnowInsiders

Ranking the US’s best car brands is no easy task. The term “best” is quite subjective, and there’s no shortage of variables that you can take into account to measure the overall best and worst car brands. Some drivers rate a car brand by the statistics of their top-shelf performance cars. Others prefer to measure a brand by the overall reliability and build quality of their products.

There are drivers out there who judge car brands by their owner satisfaction, and others who take into account the quality of a company’s sales staff, parts supply, or dealerships. Finding a uniform way to measure quality is no mean feat.

List of 10 Vehicle Brands in the US

(Award from U.S. News & World Report)

1. Honda

2. Hyundai

3. Ram

4. Porsche

5. Ford

6. Lexus

7. Chevrolet

8. Toyota

9. Jeep

10. BMW

*****

To determine the award winners, U.S. News Best Cars averaged the overall score of all the given brand’s products in each award class. The brand with the highest overall average score was named the winner in the category. The overall scores come directly from the U.S. News Best Cars rankings, which are based on a combination of the consensus opinion of the automotive press, safety scores and reliability data.

Which are the 10 Vehicle Brands in the US?

1. Honda

Photo: GoodCarBadCar

For 2022, Honda makes its debut as the winner of our Best Car Brand award. The brand offers a strong selection of gas-powered and hybrid cars that are each solid picks on their own.

For starters, Honda offers the Civic, which has long been a stalwart of the compact car class and a go-to option for competent and reliable daily transportation. The Civic was fully redesigned for the 2022 model year, bringing fresh looks and improved talents. It currently tops our compact car ranking, thanks in part to a contemporary cabin and a healthy roster of standard features. It also offers a flavor of driving excitement as well, with deft handling talents and the option to equip a manual transmission.

The Civic also offers a degree of flexibility for different needs, as it’s available in both sedan and hatchback body styles. With the expanded cargo space of a hatch, the Civic is one of the more practical options in the compact class. Its utility is further boosted by great fuel economy ratings.

2. Hyundai

Photo: Serious Wheels

The standout car in the Hyundai lineup may be the Sonata, which was fully redesigned for 2020 and set a new standard for the brand in terms of elegant design. The Sonata Hybrid model is currently at the top of our ranking for the class.

The sporty Veloster hatchback is another interesting choice, combining practicality with fun driving dynamics in a unique package. The Ioniq is available with hybrid, plug-in hybrid, or fully-electric powertrains, helping bring affordable and efficient technology to the masses. Really, though, every car in the brand’s current lineup is good, and the class-leading warranty is matched only by sister brand Kia.

3. Ram

Photo: Aventura Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram

Ram is our 2022 Best Truck Brand, winning for the third straight year. It’s not only capable of typical truck duties like towing and hauling, but Ram is also recognized as being a class leader in luxury and driving comfort.

Ram prides itself on its player in the competitive full size pickup truck class, the Ram 1500. It is available in multiple different trim levels, ranging from a basic work truck to the high-performance Ram TRX, which comes equipped with a supercharged V8 engine. Upper-level trims are fitted with opulent materials that rival some luxury brands’ offerings. Between its performance and interior quality, the Ram pickup is one of the most versatile vehicles on the market.

4. Porsche

Photo: AutoPro

Luxury brand Porsche is synonymous with both high-end sporty vehicles and race cars. While there is still a focus on the sporty models, newer additions to the range include SUVs like the Cayenne and Macan. All models boast beautiful interiors, excellent handling, and superb braking.

The company can also claim the three-way tied title of Best Road Test Score Overall (tied with Audi and Tesla) in the Consumer Reports 2021 testing. Plus, it’s the highest-ranking European brand for reliability in its SUVs.

5. Ford

Photo: Carscoops

An American automaker that has its main headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan and sells automobiles globally as well. The company sells automobiles and commercial vehicles under the Ford brand and ranked one in terms of the most popular car brands in America.

Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker in the year 1919. The company achieved the feat of overcoming and re-establishing its regime from the Recession in 2008 through restructuring and re-energizing its business. The company has had the achievement of being one of the best car brands in the US, having the highest sales. Hence, it has always been of the top car brands globally since its inception.

6. Lexus

Photo: Tieudung.

Tied in first for the best car brand in America, Lexus is no stranger to high survey rankings. In fact, it has regularly listed as one of the top 5 car brands in surveys since 2011. Last year, Lexus trailed behind Volvo as the king of the car brands in the US using data compiled by ACSI. This year, Lexus has managed to gain a few points and share the top honors with Volvo as the most reliable car brands.

Lexus has won many accolades since it was first established in 1983 as Toyota’s luxury division. In recent years, the brand has been listed as the most trusted car brand in America, score a higher than the industry average score in vehicle reliability, and now it’s known as the best car brand in America.

Today, Lexus is one of the largest Japanese car brands, exporting to over 70 countries worldwide, with factories and operational locations across the globe, from the company’s headquarters in Nagoya, Japan to plants in Plano, Texas, and Brussels, Belgium. It tops our list, but it tops many other car brands list articles to, thanks to the company’s commitment to reliability, customer service, forward-thinking, and luxury design.

7. Chevrolet

Photo: 24H

When it comes to dependability on the vehicle, Chevrolet becomes the top Choice and thus marked as the second position in the race of best car brands in the US.

As a full-line automaker fielding a diverse product line-up, many of its vehicles are very comfortable and thus, flourished in the mainstream. Chevrolet sells everything from small cars to full-size trucks, a result of which it becomes the second most popular choice for Americans to select the cars of this brand.

The affordable price, the durability of the car, the user- friendly operations and the dependability on the vehicle makes it find its place on the list of best car brands in the world.

8. Toyota

Photo: DriveMag

The last brand to join Audi and Honda in third place is Toyota. Despite being one of the world’s largest car manufacturers, Toyota can only command a joint third place in terms of ASCI’s satisfaction index. Scoring 83 points would normally be something to celebrate, but Toyota has actually lost three points from the previous years, slipping from first place (held jointly with Lexus) down to third. On the plus side, Toyota scored very well in the J.D Power rankings, only reporting 90 problems per 100 cars sold, which better than the industry of 93, putting it in joint 8th place out of 32 brands ranked.

Founded as a loom manufacturing company in Japan in 1924, Toyota evolved to manufacture automobiles in 1933, with the first production models arriving in 1935. Over the years, the company has grown considerably, with factories and plants all over the world, with a number of well-known sub-brands too. Today, the Toyota Motor Corporation is considered to be the world’s largest automobile manufacturer, often swapping places with Volkswagen, and the company is set to grow even larger thanks to the brand’s commitment to electric and hybrid technology, with models such as the Prius and Prius Prime, which are considered to be standard bearers for the hybrid category.

9. Jeep

Photo: Paultan

“Thinking of trailing through the rocky and steep wilderness or want to explore the most rugged terrains? The name that frequently comes to the mind is JEEP!”

The term “Jeep” has been used since ages to direct all the attention towards the kinds of automobiles suitable for the uneven lands.

Trucks, SUVs are usually the most preferred kinds of automobiles produced by the company. Americans are always excited about trucks and thus, Jeep paves the most suitable path for the most popular car brands in America!

10. BMW

Photo: GoodCarBadCar

BMW’s ranking with the ASCI shows no movement from previous years, with the brand scoring an impressive 82 points. Though it hasn’t shown any signs of improvement since last year, BMW’s sales have in fact risen by a cool 2.5%. J.D Power rate BMW 20th out of 32 manufacturers in terms of product quality, backed by data that BMW owners report an average of 102 faults per 100 cars sold. Other sources beg to differ though, with research company Consumer Affairs (not to be confused with Consumer Reports) awarding BMW a score of 3.5 out of 5 for reliability based on the strength of over 1000 independent reviews.

BMW began life as three individual companies: Rapp Motorenwerke, Fahrzeugfabrik Eisenach, and Bayerische Flugzeugwerke. In 1916, the three brands were merged and the newly founded company manufactured aircraft engines for the Germans during World War I. After the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany was prohibited from manufacturing aircraft engines, so the company survived by branching out and manufacturing other goods. While BMW began constructing motorcycles, the company’s subsequent automobiles gained fame worldwide. Today, the brand specialized in building high-quality, premium, high-performance, and often luxury, automobiles.