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Consumer Reports no longer recommends Honda Civic

Consumer Reports annual Car Reliability Survey is out, and yes, there are some big surprises. First and foremost? The venerable publication no longer recommends the Honda Civic. In fact, aside from the walking-dead CR-Z and limited-release Clarity fuel-cell car, the Civic is the only Honda to miss out on CR's prestigious nod. At the opposite end there's a surprise as well – Toyota and Lexus remain the most reliable brands on the market, but Buick cracked the top three. That's up from seventh last year, and the first time for an American brand to stand on the Consumer Reports podium. Mazda's entire lineup earned Recommended checks as well. Consumer Reports dinged the Civic for its "infuriating" touch-screen radio, lack of driver lumbar adjustability, the limited selection of cars on dealer lots fitted with Honda's popular Sensing system, and the company's decision to offer LaneWatch instead of a full-tilt blind-spot monitoring system. Its score? A lowly 58. The Civic isn't the only surprise drop from CR's Recommended ranks. The Audi A3, Ford F-150, Subaru WRX/STI, and Volkswagen Jetta, GTI, and Passat all lost the Consumer Reports' checkmark. On the flipside, a number of popular vehicles graduated to the Recommended ranks, including the BMW X5, Chevrolet Camaro, Corvette, and Cruze, Hyundai Santa Fe, Porsche Macan, and Tesla Model S. Perhaps the biggest surprise is the hilariously recall-prone Ford Escape getting a Recommended check – considering the popularity of Ford's small crossover, this is likely a coup for the brand, as it puts the Escape on a level playing field with the Recommended Toyota RAV4, Honda CR-V, and Nissan Rogue. While Ford is probably happy to see CR promote the Escape, the list wasn't as kind for every brand. For example, of the entire Fiat Chrysler Automobiles catalog, the ancient Chrysler 300 was the only car to score a check – there wasn't a single Dodge, Fiat, Jeep, Maserati, or Ram on the list. That hurts. FCA isn't alone at the low end, either. GMC, Jaguar Land Rover, Mini, and Mitsubishi don't have a vehicle on CR's list between them, while brands like Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Nissan, Lincoln, Infiniti, and Cadillac only have a few models each. You can check out Consumer Reports entire reliability roundup, even without a subscription, here.

Safety group pans GM’s new Marketplace in-dash shopping

When it comes to our cars, is the Internet of Things a godsend? Or a hidden menace that will create more problems than it will solve? On the same day General Motors announced it will equip newer-model cars with its in-dash Marketplace e-commerce app, a prominent safety group was shooting it down. National Safety Council President Deborah Hersman tells Bloomberg the technology will only contribute to distracted driving and hurt efforts to stem the tide of rising auto fatalities, which grew 5.6 percent to more than 37,000 in the U.S. in 2016. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says distracted driving was responsible for 3,477 fatalities and 391,000 injuries in 2015, the most recent year for which it has data. "There's nothing about this that's safe," Hersman told Bloomberg. "If this is why they want WiFi in the car, we're going to see fatality numbers go up even higher than they are now." Marketplace, developed with IBM, will allow drivers — or more often, one hopes, their passengers — to order coffee or food, find gas stations and reserve hotel rooms from their dashboard screens. The technology is set to be uploaded automatically to nearly 1.9 million GM vehicles model-year 2017 and later that are equipped with WiFi hotspots and compatible systems. By the end of 2018, about 4 million Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac vehicles will be equipped with Marketplace. The app will debut with a limited number of participating retailers, including TGI Fridays, Shell, Exxon Mobil and Starbucks, with more likely to join later. Online retail giant Amazon is also partnering with automakers such as Ford to bring e-commerce capabilities inside the car through its Alexa personal assistant. While convenience is nice, one other thing is becoming clear as the IoT wedges its way into our cars: It's taking aim at some decidedly first-world problems.Related Video: Image Credit: GM Buick Cadillac Chevrolet GM GMC Technology Infotainment in-car entertainment marketplace e-commerce

Here are all the cars GM is axing as part of its restructuring

GM plans to kill off a couple of great and a few meh cars as part of its restructuring. Here's a rundown of all the cars being phased out of production. None of the vehicles GM axed were SUVs or crossovers. Instead, it was an action reminiscent of what Ford recently decided to do by discontinuing U.S. sales every Blue Oval sedan. GM just didn't explicitly say, "We're killing our cars," like Ford did — probably a smart move by GM. Keep scrolling down to see the full list of deceased GM models. Chevrolet Volt This one was the most surprising of all the cars GM decided to can, primarily because cars with plugs are supposed to be our future. However, maybe consumer demand just isn't quite there yet for a plug-in like the Volt. We came up with all sorts of ideas for what was to blame for the untimely demise of the Volt, so go check that out for a full breakdown of the situation. Cadillac CT6 Here's another car we'll be sad to see go. Cadillac's flagship sedan was such a joy to drive, and it served as the conduit to deliver GM's semi-autonomous Super Cruise system, which still hasn't been surpassed by any other company's technology in our books, even Tesla's Autopilot. That being said, GM does plan to produce the CT6 until March, with the last cars coming off the line set to be twin-turbo V8 V-Series models. If it's going to go, this seems like a pretty great way to make an exit. We'll be patiently awaiting the next flagship Cadillac once this one finally fades away. Chevrolet Impala The Impala is actually a pretty good car. It doesn't sell terribly, and we think it's a completely satisfactory car to drive. However, people would rather have a Traverse or Equinox these days, making the Impala one of the vehicles to find itself on this list. Chevrolet is keeping its smaller brother, the Malibu, but a big, full-size sedan just isn't what people are ordering up these days. It's unfortunate to see it go, but we won't be broken up over it. Chevrolet Cruze We wouldn't rank the Cruze at the top of the compact car class, but if you were looking for a small, cheap American car, it was either this or the Focus. The Cruze had the potential to be a true small performance car if Chevy had ever wanted to make it into one. But sadly, we're seeing it bow out before Chevy ever tried to slot a hot engine and suspension in there to make it competitive with other hot hatches. A Cruze SS would have made enthusiasts take notice.