TrueCar Announces Which Automakers Make the Grade

TrueCar.com announced Tuesday its April Performance Scorecard results, ranking manufacturers and brands on various criteria, including sales and customer loyalty.

Though luxury brands were in the mix at the top,  a couple of non-luxury automakers found themselves on equal footing.  

Porsche recieved the highest grade by manufacturer with an A+, with Hyundai and BMW following closely behind — each receiving an A. By manufacturer, Suzuki and Saab found themselves at the bottom of the pack.

“Hyundai was the only non-luxury manufacturer with an A rating because of solid retail sales without having to spend on incentives,” said Jesse Toprak, vice president of industry trends and insights at TrueCar.com.

Moreover, Scion, Porsche and Hyundai topped the list by brands, as each brand received an A+. Meanwhile, Lincoln, Chrysler and Suzuki ended the month with the lowest grades for individual brands, each receiving a D.

Automakers who saw the most improvement from March to April were Chevrolet, moving up from a C+ to a B+, Honda moving from a D to a C+ and Volkswagen and BMW both shifting from a B to an A-.

"Chevrolet’s strong showing this month was due to its strength in retail sales while decreasing its incentive spend in April," explained Toprak.

Brands who didn’t fair quite so well this month were Nissan, falling from an A- to a C, Mazda, moving from a B+ to a C- and lastly, Suzuki, sliding from a C to a D.

"Nissan had the sharpest decline among all manufacturers with a steep decline in market share and extreme variance in pricing,” Toprak shared.

The top three highest and lowest manufacturer and brand rankings by TrueCar.com: