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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.

2020 Lincoln Aviator 450-hp PHEV will get its own exterior visual cues

Lincoln will brand its powerful plug-in version of the new Aviator crossover as a GT hybrid package with a few distinguishing visual cues when it goes on sale next summer. The luxury PHEV crossover will do battle with competitors like the Porsche Cayenne E-Hybrid, Volvo XC90 T8 and BMW's (incredibly long-winded) X5 xDrive45e iPerformance. The "GT" designation harkens to the golden era of grand touring and is meant to convey the combination of high performance and comfort over long distances. "It's really trying to get at how Lincoln is redefining luxury performance," said Brad Jager, the Aviator brand manager. The hybrid system will deliver 450 horsepower and a whopping 600 pound-feet of torque, which are increases of 50 hp and 200 lb-ft over the pure combustion version powered by a twin-turbo 3.0-liter V6. Lincoln isn't releasing expected electric-only range or fuel economy, and it's keeping most of the details of the hybrid system under wraps for now. It has said you'll also be able to hold the charge to be deployed later, such as for short trips in town. Lincoln is, however, making a few subtle exterior changes to designate the GT hybrid setup, which will be offered in the higher-end GT and Black Label trim models (the entry-level Aviator and Reserve models will be available only in gasoline combustion versions). First are changes to the Lincoln star badge on the grille and Aviator badge on the side flanks, which fill in with a blue color borrowed from the original Lincoln V12 badge from the 1930s and '40s — a neat touch on a vehicle that is reviving a nameplate. The grille itself is also an inversion of the new Lincoln treatment appearing on models like the Navigator and Nautilus. So where the grilles on those models have cutouts, the GT hybrid grille has protruding shapes that dissipate the further away they are from the center badge. Lastly, the PHEV will come with 21-inch wheels instead of the 22-inchers that equip non-hybrid versions. Lincoln says it designed the rear-wheel-drive architecture with the Aviator in mind, allowing the battery to go underneath the passenger-side second-row seats and maximizing interior space. Engineers also fit an electric motor between the V6 engine and the 10-speed automatic transmission. Lincoln hasn't announced pricing on the Aviator, which goes on sale next summer, and the plug-in hybrid versions will obviously command a premium.

Mixed sales results, but automaker stocks rise on need for cars in Houston

DETROIT — The Big Three Detroit automakers on Friday reported better-than-expected August sales and issued optimistic outlooks for demand as residents of the Houston area replace flood-damaged cars and trucks after Hurricane Harvey, sending their stocks higher. General Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler posted mixed August U.S. sales, with GM up 7.5 percent and Ford and Fiat Chrysler down. Japanese automaker Toyota improved sales by nearly 7 percent, while Honda fell 2.4 percent. Still, analysts focused on the potential for Detroit automakers to cut inventories and stabilize used vehicle prices as residents of Houston, the fourth largest city in the United States, are forced to replace tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, of vehicles after the devastation from Hurricane Harvey. Mark LaNeve, Ford's U.S. sales chief, told analysts on Friday that following Hurricane Katrina in 2005 "we saw a very dramatic snapback" in demand. That said, Ford sales fell 2.1 percent in August. It sold 209,897 vehicles in the United States, compared with 214,482 a year earlier. Sales were down 1.9 percent in the Ford division and off 5.8 percent at Lincoln. Demand was down for cars, crossovers and SUVs. It was not clear how many vehicles in the Houston area will be scrapped, LaNeve said, saying he had seen estimates ranging from 200,000 to 400,000 to 1 million. Ford's Houston dealers may have lost fewer than 5,000 vehicles in inventory, he said. Ford is the No. 1 automaker in the Houston market, with 18 percent share, according to IHS Markit. The company plans to ship used vehicles to Houston dealers and has "every indication we would have to add some production" of new vehicles to meet demand, LaNeve said. Investor concerns about inventories of unsold vehicles and falling used car prices have weighed on Detroit automakers' shares most of this year. Now, automakers can anticipate a jolt of demand from a big market that is a stronghold for Detroit brand trucks and SUVs. "It's got to be a positive for the industry," LaNeve said. Investors appeared to agree. GM shares rose as much as 3.3 percent to their highest since early March. Ford increased 2.8 percent at $11.34, and Fiat Chrysler's U.S.-traded shares were up 5.2 percent $15.91, hitting their highest in more than five years. GM reported a 7.5 percent increase in U.S. auto sales in August, helped by robust sales of crossovers across its four brands.