SANTA MONICA, Calif. -

There’s a new leader in performance, breaking a Subaru streak, reports TrueCar.com in announcing its Performance Scorecard results for October.

This time, the highest grade by manufacturer went to Toyota, snapping a four-month streak in the lead by Subaru, which tied with BMW for second place in the manufacturer’s slots. Jaguar Land Rover placed third. 

Showing the lowest performance grades by manufacturer were Suzuki at the bottom with a D-minus. Mitsubishi came in next to last, and Mazda and Volvo tied for the third lowest spot.

The manufacturers showing the largest gains from September to October 2012 were Ford, jumping from C-plus to B, and Volvo, moving from D-plus to C. 

The steepest declines by manufacturer during that same period were:

  • Subaru, going from A-plus to A
  • Chrysler, from B-plus to B
  • Porsche, from B to B-minus
  • Mazda, from C-plus to C
  • Mitsubishi, from C to C-minus
  • Suzuki, from C-minus to D-plus.

Brand Rankings

In brand rankings reported by TrueCar, Scion and Land Rover tied for the top spot with A-plus grades.

A three-way tie for second place went to Toyota, FIAT and Subaru, while Audi, BMW and Lexus all tied for the third-highest grade.

On the lower end of the grading, Suzuki earned a D-minus to land at the bottom of the list. The next to last spot went to Mitsubishi and Mazda in a tie, while Jaguar, Volvo and Nissan tied for the third lowest grade.

The scorecards grade each manufacturer and brand on eight different measurements, the company said, including pricing, sales, incentives, customer loyalty, market share and days in inventory.

For more information on the Performance Scorecards, visit blog.truecar.com.