2010 Hyundai Genesis Coupe 2.0t Track Coupe 2-door 2.0l on 2040-cars

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BMW tops Consumer Reports 2023 Brand Report Card

Feels like we wrote about Consumer Reports' 2022 Brand Report Car and 10 Top Picks a few weeks ago, but it was last April. So the mag is back with a ranked roster of 32 brands and 10 vehicles in four categories for your debating pleasure. Starting with the brands, last year's top three were Subaru, Mazda and BMW. This year, the Munich crew climbed two spots to win the prize thanks to "Superb road test scores and solid results in CR’s reliability and owner satisfaction surveys." Subaru narrowly fell to second, maintaining its four-year run in the top three. Mini, eighth last year, jumped five spots to get the last step on the podium. The rest of the top 10 were Lexus (up one spot from last year), Honda (down one spot from last year), Toyota (up three), Genesis (up 12), Mazda (down six), Audi (down three) and Kia (up eight). The magazine and testing outfit says its Brand Report Card "[reveals] which automakers are producing the most well-performing, safe, and reliable vehicles based on CRÂ’s independent testing and member surveys," and that "Brands that rise to the top tend to have the most consistent performance across their model lineups." Last year's top 10 had six automakers from Japan, three from Germany (giving Mini credit for England), none from the U.S. or South Korea, and five luxury brands. This year's list counts five makes from Japan, two from Germany because Porsche fell out of the top ten, two from South Korea, still none from the U.S., and four luxury brands. Buick again ranked as the best domestic, dropping to 12th after being 11th last year. The big mover was Lincoln, its 10-place jump up to 16th attributed to better reliability from the Corsair and Nautilus. Tesla's improved overall reliability saw it climb six spots to 17th. Dodge climbed one spot to 15th. Jeep got out of the penalty box in last to come second-to-last. Land Rover fell three places into the penalty spot.  CR's top 10 vehicle models The 10 Top Picks list is practically a new list. Only two holdovers made it to 2023, those being the Subaru Forester and Kia Telluride.

Hyundai working on clean-sheet, hydrogen-powered CUV

Autocar reports that Hyundai is working on its next hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, and that the coming vehicle will be a clean-sheet design and likely a crossover. The South Korean company will soon have its Toyota Prius-fighting Ioniq hybrid on the market, now it is said to have placed a bullseye on the Toyota Mirai FCEV. This follows news that Kia is developing a brand new fuel-cell hybrid for launch by 2020, the theory is that platform will be shared with Hyundai, who will launch it first. The bodystyle isn't confirmed, but making it a crossover would take advantage of two important factors, one being the ongoing sales boom of compact and mid-sized SUVs. The second is that according to Sae-Hoon Kim, head of the company's fuel cell research, "all customer feedback says range and boot space are the priorities." Since bigger tanks typically mean less trunk space, a crossover would offer the best opportunity for maximizing both. A people-hauler could also make design and brand connections with the Kia Niro hybrid crossover. Hyundai is hoping to get a range of 500 miles out of the new vehicle, which would mark a 25-percent improvement over the range of the Tucson FCEV currently on sale. When it arrives it will give Hyundai a dedicated player in three alternative powertrain domains, joining the Ioniq plug-in hybrid and the pure electric vehicle it promised for launch by 2017. That could be seen as merely hedging bets, but the company does believe in hydrogen, Kim saying, "Every solution leads to hydrogen; either you use renewable energy sources to create and store hydrogen, or you use traditional fuels like coal to create hydrogen. Either way, hydrogen is the way to store energy and control supply and demand."

Hyundai Santa Cruz could get green light this year

The market for smaller trucks is gaining steam in the United States with introductions like the Chevrolet Colorado, GMC Canyon, and the forthcoming, updated Toyota Tacoma. After the enthusiastic reaction to the Hyundai HCD-15 Santa Cruz concept at 2015 Detroit Auto Show, that pickup is looking increasingly likely to see production, as well. "There is a very high probability we get the approval of the truck soon," Hyundai Motor America CEO Dave Zuchowski said to the TheDetroitBureau.com. Customer surveys have shown the possible pickup to be quite popular around the country, except among Texans, according to Zuchowski. However, the final sign-off still needs to come from corporate headquarters in South Korea. The production Santa Cruz might be very different from the vehicle on the stand in Detroit. The concept was just there to gauge reactions, and the company hadn't even decided on a platform at that time. The slide-out bed extension was thought to be possible in the real world, but there were reportedly still other hurdles to overcome. The unibody pickup isn't the only project Hyundai is developing for North America. The automaker also wants to step into the expanding compact crossover market with an entry specifically designed for this market. "This is a growth segment," Zuchowski told TheDetroitBureau.com. "We want a piece of it." While neither of these new models are fully approved yet, it certainly looks like Hyundai intends to be a bigger player in the truck and crossover world in the coming years. Related Video: