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Lexus gets top brand marks from Consumer Reports; Ford, Jeep hit hard

Consumer Reports has released its 2014 Car Brand Report Cards, with Lexus again reigning at the top and doing so with the same industry-topping score of 79 that it registered in last year's Report Cards. This year, the institute credited its lineup for being "usually quiet, comfortable, and fuel-efficient," noting it's the only brand on the list "to achieve an excellent average overall reliability score." The Car Brand Report Cars list is meant to rank the best all-around vehicles based on CR testing and reliability results tallied by subscribers it surveyed. Each brand included must have sufficient test and reliability data for at least three models, a standard which left out 11 marques including Fiat, Jaguar, Land Rover and Porsche.
This 2014 Brand Report Cars edition is the first of a new format in which sub-brands have been broken out from their parent brands, with Acura using this year to move up the leaderboard into second place with a score of 75 for its "reliable, well-finished and somewhat sporty models." The top three was rounded out by Audi, climbing from eighth to third by scoring a 74 for "well-crafted interiors, nice handling and good gas mileage." Audi scored highest in the road-test portion, its improved reliability aiding its rise. The top nine was completed by Subaru, Toyota, Mazda, Honda, Infiniti and Mercedes-Benz.
Ford and Jeep weighed in at the other end of the rankings, Jeep taking the lowest overall score in the road tests and hampered by "a mix of spotty reliability." Ford was sunk by reliability issues with its MyFord Touch infotainment system which consumers found troublesome enough to negate its cars earning "solid test scores" for being "very nice to drive." Perhaps the rumored switch from Microsoft to Blackberry's QNX for the next generation SYNC will help them out. Cadillac's score also took a hit for infotainment reasons after it was the leading US brand last year, the CUE system in the XTS dragging Cadillac to the bottom of all General Motors brands.

2020 Lexus RC F Track Edition will be the most powerful Lexus since the LFA

Toyota and Lexus are pulling out the stops when it comes to sports cars at the Detroit Auto Show. In addition to the real, final reveal of the Toyota Supra, we'll also see a just-announced 2020 Lexus RC F Track Edition. According to a representative from Toyota it will be the most powerful Lexus offered since the LFA supercar. With the announcement of the hot RC comes a teaser image of the car. It shows the requisite giant carbon fiber wing that all hardcore track cars need. The car also appears to be painted in a matte gray, which will undoubtedly be matched with blue accents since blue and gray are the official colors of the Lexus F brand. A particularly impressive design element is how the F logo appears to be woven directly into the carbon fiber of the wing. As for how much power the RC F Track Edition will produce, we can at least guess a range while we wait for the reveal. The most powerful LFA, the Nurburgring Edition, made 562 horsepower, and the regular model made 552 horsepower. The most powerful Lexus on sale right now is the LC 500 with a 471 horsepower V8. At least 500 horsepower seems a safe bet for this special RC F, and it will probably come from a massaged version of the 5.0-liter V8 in the regular RC F and LC 500. Stay tuned for all the details when it's shown on January 14, 2019 in Detroit. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Lexus back in luxury sales race after three-year absence

Think the only challengers for the title of best-selling luxury brand hail from der Vaterland? Wrong. Lexus outsold the likes of Mercedes-Benz for the second time in 2014 last month. In fact, the Japanese luxury marque's total sales this year are a mere 12,000 units behind BMW.
Lexus was able to move 26,921 vehicles last month, a year-over-year increase of 21.1 percent, respectively. Mercedes, meanwhile, was just barely beaten, moving 26,617 units in April. The difference, though, is that Lexus has made far bigger year-over-year gains than Mercedes, which recorded a YOY increase of just 4.13 percent.
This is particularly troubling for the Germans, as it marks a return to form for Lexus that we haven't seen since before the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami that decimated Japan. Prior to that natural disaster, Lexus enjoyed nearly a dozen years at the top of the luxury heap.