why can't American car companies compete on reliability

Unions.

ETA: They also sell a lot more vehicles here than they do oversees, so they're bound to have more instances of vehicles breaking down. Ford's European vehicles are pretty well regarded.

Maybe enough of the American public is brainwashed into 'buy American' that they don't have to be as reliable?


Maybe not. Just a theory.

Aren't Toyota and Lexus the same damn thing?

If Buick makes the list, why not Chevrolet? Again, same company.

Inb4 they manufacture some cars that were on that list.

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based on information gathered from the publication's subscribers who have "owned or leased over half a million vehicles, from model years 2000 to 2016, with a smattering of 2017s, covering more than 300 models."

In total, 29 brands were ranked in the survey. Consumer Reports categorized the top eight brands as "more reliable" while brands ranked nine through 18 were classified as "reliable." The 11 brands at the bottom of the rankings were categorized as "less reliable."

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Sounds like an unquestionable study to me...

It's management culture. What is considered an "acceptable defect" is very different in the company cultures of some of the more popular import brands than the American brands. They simply refuse to tolerate defects to the same extent we do.

Union labor.

Not many people are going to abuse a Lexus like they will a Silverado. You can say that for most of this list. Not many work vehicles in there. Or what about pulling trailers, doing work, gravel and mud roads, straining the engine pulling loads up hills. It's not apples to apples. Ford sells a million trucks, 200,000 get abused to shite. Not that way with Lexus, Buick, Audi, whoever....

Something to keep in mind about "reliability' reports is those ratings nowadays include a category such as consumers ability to use feature. Ford had a high reliability one year then the next year when that category was incorporated, dropped big time due to Sync. FYI Ford was tied with Honda and Subaru for long term reliability while trailing Toyota.

One other thing to remember and it's also why a list like the OP has changes often is because it's done by surveys which do have a degree of unreliableness associated with them.

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6. Mazda 5. Kia 4. Audi 3. Buick

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biggest bs on the OT all day...this list is nothing without Honda