America’s Worst Car Brand

There are two car awards that auto manufacturers want to win and don’t want to lose. The first is a series from J.D. Power. The other is the annual Consumer Reports Overall Score auto brand ratings from the famous testing organization. The Consumer Reports rating is based on the magazine’s road tests, safety assessments, reliability, and owner satisfaction surveys. The total number of tests each brand goes through is just above 50.

These reports are so important because many car buyers use the results to make purchase decisions.

The Consumer Reports Overall Score rating includes 31 brands. Each receives a rank with a numerical score. At the top is Subaru with an overall score of 82. After a few considerations in subcategory scores, BWM finished a close second with a score of 82. Troubled Jeep is at the bottom of the ratings. The division of Stellatis had a score of 48.

Jeep’s troubles include sales. It sold 923,000 vehicles in 2019 and only 588,000 last year. Another issue is its relationship with dealers who have trouble moving the brand’s models. According to CNBC, inventory levels are extremely high. “Jeep had the highest days’ supply of any major brand other than Ford’s Lincoln at 146 days in October. The industry average for days’ supply, which calculates the amount of days inventory dealerships have based on recent sales, was 88 days,” the business cable channel reports.

To its advantage, Jeep has one thing most successful brands have. It has a broad range of models based on price. The Compass has a manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of $28,995, its lowest-priced model. At the top of the range is the Grand Wagoneer with a base MSRP of $84,945. At the high end of the Grand Wagoneer model, the Series III Obsidian has a base price of $109,450. That puts it in direct competition with the Range Rover, which is priced at $113,300. Land Rover had the second-worst brand in the Consumer Reports Overall Score with a score of 52.

Jeep has a lot of hurdles to climb the ratings. Aside from the Consumer Reports ranking are its sales and dealer inventory.

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