Magazine: Lexus is Top Auto Brand in U.S.

Consumer Reports has bestowed its highest rating on Toyota Motor Co.'s Lexus unit. The magazine's 2013 Car Brand Report Cards describe Lexus vehicles as quiet, plush, fuel efficient and reliable.

CR ranks marques based on vehicle reliability and performance in its road test and awards the highest scores to the best. The magazine didn't rate seven smaller makes, including Mitsubishi, for lack of sufficient reliability data.

Lexus, rated (79), was joined at the top by seven more Japanese makes: Subaru and Mazda (76), Toyota and Acura (74), Honda and Scion (72) and Infiniti (70). Audi (70) and Mercedes-Benz (69) rounded out the top 10. Other European marques were ranked between 64 and 56.

Among U.S. carmakers, General Motors' makes (63-54) fared best, followed by Ford marques (51-50). Chrysler Group's namesake brand scored 52, but Dodge (46) and Jeep (47) were lowest in the rankings.

Honda returned to the magazine's Top Picks list, which selects the best model in each of 10 vehicle categories, after a one-year absence. Honda has three top-rated models, tied with Toyota Group.

Subaru earned two Top Picks, including a tie with Honda for best sporty car. Audi, BMW, Subaru and Hyundai each had one best-in-category model.