Mazda Named Best Car Brand of 2021
Non-profit organization Consumer Reports has just named Mazda the best car brand of 2021. To achieve that title, Mazda had to beat out 32 competitors — including some industry heavyweights like Porsche and BMW, which previously occupied the top spots of last year’s list. Here’s a look at what pulled Mazda to the head of the pack.
Proven Reliability: Benefits of a CPO Mazda
Achieving the pole position
In order to win the top spot, a brand’s vehicles need to score high in terms of owner satisfaction, safety ratings, predicted reliability, and other factors. Owner satisfaction is determined via surveys sent out to Consumer Reports members, while safety ratings are based on crash-test scores and each model’s standard safety feature offerings. Predictability scores come from user-reported issues from 17 different problem areas. Consumer Reports also performs road testing on each model, which involves a gauntlet of 50 different evaluations per vehicle. The organization even considers each car’s Green Choice rating, which grades models based on emissions and efficiency.
Of Mazda’s seven-car lineup, six models scored high marks across the board, helping the automaker secure the title win. Only the brand’s newcomer, the CX-30, didn’t earn top-tier marks.
Mazda’s rise to the top of the list was heavily influenced by its gains in the predictability category, which improve as its lineup ages and more reliability data rolls in. Since the CX-30 is a new model with virtually no predictability data, it simply couldn’t be on the same level as models which have been proven winners for decades.
In 2020, Mazda was still ahead of the curve, scoring fourth out of 32 competitors, behind mainstays like Subaru, Honda and European luxury brands. But this year, it was BMW in second place, with Subaru, Porsche, and Honda rounding out the top five.
Class-Leading Safety: Every 2021 Mazda earned a Top Safety Pick+ Designation
This isn’t the first time Mazda has topped the lists of industry experts. Check how Mazda scored the title of Best Car Brand from U.S. News & World Report.
Kimiko Kidd is a native Daytonian. She graduated from Wright State University with degrees in environmental science and sociology. She loves her trusty old Honda Civic, but dreams of owning a 1974 Ford Falcon XB with a custom paint job and a vintage Kawasaki Z1000. In her free time, Kimiko can be found watercolor-painting, baking muffins, collecting rocks, playing old-school Nintendo games, writing her novel, sewing stuffed animals, and cosplaying as her favorite Mad Max characters. See more articles by Kimiko.