1996 Mazda Miata Convertible 28,000 Miles 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.

Mazda names new North American chief

Mazda has announced today the appointment of a new president and CEO of its North American operations. Jim O'Sullivan, who has been running the office for 13 years, is now leaving the company. In his place the head office has appointed veteran manager Masahiro Moro, and as you can see, he could not be more thrilled with the appointment. A 55-year-old native of Kyoto, Moro has been with Mazda since 1983. One of the company's managing executive officers, Moro currently heads up its global sales and marketing division. He also previously served as vice president of marketing and of product planning for Mazda Motor Europe, and as director of the company's Australian operations. He'll now be relocating with his wife and family to Southern California to take over the North American division based out of Irvine, effective January 1. His predecessor Jim O'Sullivan has held the office since 2003, also ranked as one of the Japanese automaker's managing executive officers. The Detroit native previously worked at Ford, where he started his career in 1976. "I have been very lucky that the car business has afforded me so many incredible experiences, and taught me so much. However, now is the right time for me to retire from Mazda," said the 40-year industry veteran of his departure from the company in the statement below. "I don't know how the next chapter in my life will read, but it's time for me to spend time with my wonderful wife, my children and my grandchildren. I've travelled the world for nearly 40 years, who knows what the future holds?" Related Video: Masahiro Moro Named President, Mazda North American Operations - Jim O'Sullivan, Current President, to Retire after 13 Years Leading the Company - IRVINE, Calif., Dec. 21, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Mazda North American Operations (MNAO) today announced the appointment of Masahiro Moro to the position of President and CEO, MNAO. Moro, a Managing Executive Officer of Mazda Motor Corporation, will take over from Jim O'Sullivan, the company's long-serving outgoing president, who will be retiring from the company. The changes were announced today to company employees, and will be effective January 1, 2016. O'Sullivan joined MNAO as President and CEO in 2003, and also held the title of Managing Executive Officer of Mazda Motor Corporation.

Mazda files patent applications for inline-six technology, new transmission

We've known for some time that Mazda is one of the OEMs getting back on the inline-six engine bandwagon, and a report from Japan gives us a glimpse of some of the automaker's plans. Mazda has filed patent applications for both new exhaust components (depicted with an inline-six) and a new eight-speed automatic transmission.  The news comes from a blog called T's Media (fire up Google Translate), which located the new hardware in two separate fillings, one for exhaust system components and one for the new transmission.  Mazda's lineup has been exclusively powered by four-cylinder engines since the demise of the last-generation CX-9, which utilized a 3.7-liter V6 sourced from Ford. Since, Mazda has relied on turbocharging to get more power out of its SkyActiv four-pots, but changes may be coming. Prior reports have indicated that Mazda wants a new, larger engine architecture to power vehicles built on a new, larger platform. This new chassis is expected to accommodate longitudinal, rear-wheel drive powertrains, which could spawn larger crossovers and SUVs. It could also potentially underpin a new rear-wheel drive coupe, if Mazda decides to go that route.  While the inline engine itself is not news, what we're seeing here might actually be hints as to Mazda's approach to the next generation of its SkyActiv engine architecture. Mazda's exhaust patent seems to describe a scalable — perhaps even modular — setup intended to be used with inline and potentially even V-engines.  "Provided is an engine exhaust structure capable of securing exhaust efficiency while reducing the size of the engine by changing the structure of an exhaust port," a translation of the patent application's introduction says. "[T]here has been proposed a technique for collecting exhaust gas discharged from each cylinder inside a cylinder head without using a separate exhaust manifold with the aim of downsizing the engine." In other words, Mazda is looking for ways to make its future engines more compact, and the strategy detailed here is the use of an integrated exhaust manifold, similar to what other automakers (such as Honda and Ford) have utilized on their smaller-displacement turbocharged engines. The sketch above of an inline-six engine with just two exhaust ports illustrates this concept.  The eight-speed transmission, while noteworthy in its own right as Mazda currently relies on aging six-speeds, doesn't seem to offer us anything particularly game-changing.  Related Video: