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Updated Thursday, October 29, 2009 11:25 am TWN, By Soyoung Kim and Bernie Woodall, Reuters



	In this Aug. 4 photo, a friend peers in the window as Winny and Lap Chan prepare to drive away in their brand new Scion from a Toyota dealership in New York. Asian automakers are still building the most reliable cars and trucks, with eight of the top 10 brands from Japanese and Korean companies, according to an annual survey by Consumer Reports. (AP) Enlarge Photo

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Ford progresses, Chrysler falters in key survey

For the new report, the magazine endorsed one Chrysler vehicle, the four-wheel-drive version of the Dodge Ram 1500 pickup truck.

“It did well in (our) road tests and rates average in reliability,” the magazine said.

Many analysts say Chrysler desperately needs new vehicles to steer its faltering operations toward recovery. Chrysler's U.S. sales plunged 42 percent in September from a year ago.

Marchionne said recently he was surprised at the lack of product development done by Chrysler's previous owners, Cerberus Capital Management and Daimler AG, in the two years before his arrival in June.

“Chrysler, well, they're not bringing out a lot of product. You have to bring out product to improve,” Paul said.

General Motors Co.'s flagship Chevrolet brand, which accounts for more than 60 percent of GM's U.S. sales, ranked 25th on the list.

The No. 1 U.S. automaker emerged from bankruptcy in July backed by some US$50 billion in U.S. taxpayer funding. GM is counting on sales gains at Chevy at a time when it is selling Saab, Hummer and winding down Pontiac and Saturn.

The magazine said that 20 of GM's 48 models have average reliability scores. The automaker has a number of “strong contenders” just released or in the pipeline, but it was too early to have reliability data on them.

“We have seen some of their newer models doing better so we do think perhaps they are on the right track,” Paul said.

Hyundai Motor Co., the only major automaker to increase sales in a slumping U.S. market this year, ranked eighth, unchanged from last year.

Besides its influence with car shoppers, the annual report is used by major automakers as a proxy for their performance in improving and maintaining vehicle quality.

Consumer Reports is published by the nonprofit Consumers Union and does not accept advertising. The publication's “predicted reliability” study for new model vehicles is based on an average of consumer ratings of the same model in the recent years.

This year's report on auto reliability was based on consumer feedback on more than 1.4 million vehicles, Consumer Reports said. The reliability results will be published in the magazine's December issue, which goes on sale next week.

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