DETROIT (Reuters) – Influential U.S. magazine Consumer Reports on Thursday turned up the pressure on automakers to include automatic emergency braking (AEB) as standard on new U.S. models by withholding its 2019 annual top vehicle picks from best-selling brands like General Motors Co’s Chevrolet.
“We’ve been pushing for this feature for a long time because it’s very good at preventing crashes,” Jake Fisher, Consumer Reports’ senior director of automotive testing, told Reuters. “We have telegraphed for some time that this was coming.”
Millions of prospective auto buyers consult the magazine’s rankings, which are based on road testing, reliability, safety and owner satisfaction scores.
A growing number of new vehicle models now include AEB as standard, including Subaru Corp’s Ascent, Consumer Reports’ 2019 top pick for the midsize SUV category.
Fisher said Tesla’s ramp-up of production of the Model 3 had been accompanied by rising reports of problems with the car’s body, interior, windows and paint, though he added Model 3 owners said they love their vehicles despite reliability issues.
Those reliability issues mean that Consumer Reports no longer recommends the Model 3, Fisher said.
Subaru was ranked as Consumer Reports’ top car brand, followed by Hyundai Motor Co’s luxury Genesis then Volkswagen AG units Porsche and Audi in third and fourth place respectively. Toyota’s luxury Lexus brand ranked fifth.
Continue reading at Reuters.
