1999 Lexus Rx300 Base Sport Utility 4-door 3.0l 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.

These are the top luxury cars bought by people entering the segment for the first time

Let's say you just got a big promotion at work or the kids are moving out of the house, and you finally have some extra money. You decide to blow it all at once and treat yourself by upgrading your ride. Naturally, you look to a luxury automaker. What do you choose?
Models like the Audi A3 and Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class may be tailor-made to introduce buyers to the premium segment, but a new study finds that they don't garner the highest rates of non-luxury customer conquests. It turns out that a Volvo leads among folks moving up to a premium brand, and it isn't even one that's made anymore, at that.
A recent study by Polk and IHS Automotive looked at what models had the highest rates of buyers upgrading from a non-luxury segment. The information comes from its new vehicle registration data through April 2014. All ten top models boasted conquest rates of over 50 percent, but the Volvo C70 led the field with 68.01 percent of its customers coming from non-premium brands.

Lexus teases its fourth flagship model

Out of nowhere, Lexus has dropped a teaser for a new vehicle to be revealed very soon. And it sounds like it's not just any model addition. The company describes it in press releases as its fourth flagship and as a "one-of-a-kind." The other flagships the company refers to are the LS sedan, LC coupe and LX SUV. Unfortunately for us, it's darn difficult to tell what the teaser is of. All we can really make out are the colors of a dark bronze and piano black. There's also a silver cylinder just standing at the edge of the image. There aren't any lights or door handles or other visible vehicle parts. Still, since Lexus refers to it as a new flagship, we presume this teaser is of a new vehicle. While the brand may seem to have a full flagship lineup among the three aforementioned models, one of them is increasingly an outlier: the LX. While it is indeed a top-rung SUV, its body-on-frame construction and off-road capabilities make it less of a real on-road competitor to new flagship crossovers such as the new Audi Q8 and upcoming BMW X7. As such, we have a feeling the teaser could be to a flagship crossover, and it will probably be based on the LF-1 Limitless concept shown at the 2018 Detroit Auto Show. The company has already expressed a strong desire to produce something like it. It seems like a pretty safe bet unless this all turns out to be a corny branding exercise in which Lexus launches a cologne or stereo system inspired by its flagship cars. At least we won't have long to learn what the mystery product is, since the company said more information would come 24 hours after the teaser dropped. Related Video: Image Credit: Lexus Lexus Luxury lexus lf-1 limitless