BMW voted most reliable UK brand
November 9, 2009 by Matt Brogan
Research into nearly 900,000 cars, operated by Britain’s biggest 50 leasing companies, has found that BMW Group’s model range is the country’s reliable – for the second year in a row.
The FN50 reliability survey, undertaken by Fleet News and financial consultants Grant Thornton, asks leasing companies to assess reliability according to the number of breakdowns per model on their fleet. As the majority of the surveyed vehicles are used for business and so are subjected to higher than average mileage and are in constant use in all conditions. Such a testing environment means that winning the FN50 is a true testament to the reliability of a car.
“This is one of the largest vehicle reliability surveys of its kind and it reviews a market where cars are subjected to some of the most testing conditions they will ever face on the road,” said Mr Stephen Briers, Editor of Fleet News. “As a result, being listed anywhere in this table is a major achievement. However, to be named most reliable is a real testament to the hard work and commitment from a manufacturer to produce cars that British businesses can rely on every day.”
BMW scored first place overall in the survey with three entries in the top 10 most reliable cars list courtesy of the BMW 3 Series (2nd), BMW 5 Series (5th) and MINI (8th).
“We’re absolutely delighted to win this award because the FN50 Reliability Survey is based on cold, hard facts, not opinion or interpretation,” said Mr Steve Chater, BMW Group Corporate Operations Manager. “Leasing companies’ businesses rely on having extremely accurate information on the operational performance of the cars they lease, so when they say you are the most reliable, it is definitive.
“Having won a number of environmental awards in the past year for EfficientDynamics, it is gratifying to see that we are also leaders in another vital area of the ownership experience.”
FN50 Survey results:
- Most reliable car manufacturer
- BMW
- Honda
- Audi
- Toyota
- Volkswagen
- Mercedes-Benz
- Ford
- Mazda
- Nissan
- Skoda
- Most reliable car
- Honda Civic
- BMW 3 Series
- Honda Jazz
- Honda Accord
- BMW 5 Series
- Audi A4
- Mercedes-Benz C-Class
- MINI
- Toyota Avensis
- Volkswagen Golf
Print it: 
I’m not sure why Honda was ranked 2nd. It looks like Honda also had 3 cars in the top 10, and were ranked in higher placings than BMW’s cars (1st, 3rd, 4th against BMWs 2nd, 5th, 8th). Odd.
agreed, the placing dosen’t make sense at all. maybe in the uk there are more bmw’s than hondas being leased hence the placing. OR perhaps honda has been doing pretty well in previous years and now it’s bmw’s turn.
Agreed this doesn’t make sense at all, is there anyway of finding out how BMW came out on top?
lol Audi
the most unreliable and overpriced rubbish available.
Not according to the survey
True, i guess maybe our roads are tougher on audi’s and parts are so expensive, people don’t maintain them properly.
A good result for BMW.
This seems quite a good survey.Other surveys take into account the number of warranty claims made,no matter if it’s leased or not.Notice how the Civic scored higher than the Jazz while on another survey,posted by CA a couple of weeks ago,the JAZZ was placed in the No.1 position.
I’m a little suprised with the VW Golf,although in the top ten,I thought it would’ve scored a higher placing.Maybe it’s the direct injection system causing problems?
Interesting- of the 10 companies and 10 cars listed, only one is American. This is pretty much a slug fest between the Germans and Japanese.
Ford Europe has alot of German input though.
WOW!!!! Made in Thailand are the best……..There are Civic, Accord and Jazz….. in top 10. Much better that Made in German and Japanese
NO MORE COMPLAIN ABOUT WHERE ARE THE CAR MAKE FROM..
You realise that the UK market Civics, Jazzes and Accords aren’t made in Thailand?
I pretty sure they are from THAILAND
For information TSI, the Civic hatch, Jazz and CR-V are in fact made in the UK at either Swindon or South Marston. These are sold in the UK and exported to some European countries as well as China, Japan, the USA and Australia for the Civic Hatch.
Also, UK/Europe do not get the “Yank Spec” Thai built Accord that we do. Their only Accord is our ‘Euro’ version that is manufactured in Japan.
OH!!! I see
Thank for the information
The “Accord Seppo”
I must say, BMW has shocked me with their placing. I cannot believe how reliable the 5 series seems to be, ditto to the 3 series. But the most disappointing is the VW Golf; I thought it would place much higher.
Andrew, that is the highest the Golf has been in a longtime, which means they have picked up their game dramatically, considering the other Euro’s were also out of the top ten in previous years. I see Honda is still at the top with the civic. It’s great to see Audi so high, they have improved greatly.
i thought toyota or honda was suppose to be at the top
What a surprise BMW is on top. I guess the BMW 3 series market is a lot bigger in the UK than Australia. They sell ~30-50000 3 series a year. What is consistent is Honda, Toyota and Mazda are consistently in the top rankings in any surveys. I’m surprised Mazda is not ranked higher than VW or in the top 5, then again its a different market with different consumer tastes.
The Jazz, Civic and Accord are made in England for the UK market. Exactly what should be happening here to provide local work for people to build these cars here for our local market.
As for reliabilty, this result would probably be different for measuring long term reliability, with historically Toyota bettering Honda.
The Accord (our Euro) is not made in the UK for their market. Only the Jazz, Civic Hatch and CR-V are. :-)