Consumer Reports’ annual auto issue is just out, and according to the publication, Honda still makes the best cars sold in the U.S., overall. In CR’s so-called “automaker report cards,” which compare automakers based on the overall scores of its vehicles in CR’s road tests, along with the overall reliability of each respective fleet, as measured by the organization in its annual

The Annual Auto Issue incorporates the results of their 2007 Annual Car Reliability Survey, which was released in October, drawing from responses on about 1.3 million vehicles. Then, CR reported that Toyota’s long-bulletproof reliability had faltered a bit, and Ford’s reliability was at a high point — the best they’d seen from the Dearborn automaker in years.

Honda ranked tops for reliability, followed by Subaru, Toyota, and Mitsubishi. Ford ranked fifth overall. Far at the bottom in the organization’s reliability findings was Mercedes-Benz, with General Motors the second-lowest — although CR said that it has seen considerable improvement from GM, along with Ford, this past year. However, products from Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen performed best in CR’s road tests, followed by Honda in third place.

Chrysler placed dead last in road-test scores — gathered through vehicles purchased by CR and tested at its independent auto-test facility — and at the lower end of CR’s reliability ratings for the automaker’s products. According to CR, the overall performance of Chrysler’s vehicles dropped significantly in the past year, due to “a number of unimpressive new vehicles.” The organization continued, in a release, to say that, “Noisy, underpowered engines, poor interior craftsmanship, cramped seating, and limited visibility plagued the most recent Chrysler vehicles tested.”

But things were looking up for Hyundai. 2008 marks the first year the organization has made any South Korean automaker’s product a Top Pick; the Hyundai Elantra SE and Hyundai Santa Fe are now top choices in the small sedan and midsize SUV categories, respectively. This breaks a two-year run during which all of the Top Picks have come from Japan-based automakers.

And finally, we reported to you a few months ago that the Nissan Altima had outscored the Honda Accord in Consumer Reports ratings, and it was then suspected that the Altima would be named their new Top Pick in the midsize sedan category. But for 2008 CR now requires electronic stability control (ESC) to be either standard or optional, so the Accord has held on to its title.

Kia didn’t have any “new” news in New York so a wise p.r. department skipped the droning executive and threw a relaxed party with juice, booze, cookies and a chocolate fountain dip surrounding the Soul concept vehicle. The Soul was newly repainted white from the silver-blue color it was originally shown in back at the 2006 auto show in Detroit.

As TheCarConnection.com reported, the Soul is still coming stateside at the end of 2008 as an ‘09 model, though the car is not named yet. Soul was playfully chosen as in Seoul, Korea, a play on words. Therefore, there will plenty of opportunity for more punning. Whatever it is ultimately called, the boxy ute will lose the suicide doors and funky rear hatch and gain a B-pillar and conventional tailgate.

Over on the other side of the world, a perhaps less wise executive at Kia decided to make a little news of the unexpected sort. Kia Motors president Cho Nam-hong whispered into the ear of a Korean journalist at the Seoul Motor Show that now that the controversial Korean Free Trade Agreement was concluded, Kia would study a serious run at the U.S. pickup truck market.

It looks like The Free Trade Agreement, much to the consternation of Detroit executives, immediately removes the 2.5 percent tariff from Korean cars entering the U.S. if engines are less than 3.0 liters in size. To give you an idea of how unhappy, here’s an on the record statement. Background discussions are more vehement:

“The Chrysler Group is disappointed with the recent details coming out of Seoul on the free trade agreement signed by the U.S. and Korea last night. We have been working with the Administration since the beginning of the talks to reduce barriers to the Korean auto market, which is the most closed market in the industrialized world. While we have supported every free trade agreement negotiated by the U.S. government, we will not support this agreement as we currently understand it.”

About 28 percent of what Kia sells in the U.S. was immediately affected. Tariffs on larger cars and Korean cars and pickup trucks would be phased out over time. Moreover, Korean companies in total already sold, oh, 700,000 vehicles in the U.S. last year, and are posting double-digit sales increases this year. The Korean market is of course all but closed to U.S. and other automakers trying to export products in that direction, with worldwide import vehicle sales accounting for less than 3 percent of the market.

So guess what hit the wires just before the relaxed Kia lounge started receiving media at its official press conference time in New York? So there was news of a sort, but not the sort that a wise P.R. department would wade into and prolong.

All this goes to show you that, well, you can’t “won” them all. – Ken Zino

Kia Says Soul Coming as '09 Model—TheCarConnection.com

Small cars are “the fastest-growing segment of the automotive market,” notes Dave Lyons, who heads Asian design operations for General Motors. On a global scale, minicars now account for about 5 percent of total sales, but by some estimates, Lyons notes, that could triple over the next decade. So it’s no surprise that General Motors has chosen to unveil three promising minicar concepts at this year’s New York International Auto Show, prototypes primarily developed at the former Daewoo operations, in Inchon, South Korea, but with the assistance of GM designers and engineers from around the world. Hear more about the Trax, Groove and Beat with publisher Paul A. Eisenstein. (STAY TUNED for more info on the Groove and Beat on April 4.)

There’s no doubt that we’re more interested in subcompacts, here in the days of $2.50 a gallon gas. But can Chevrolet make it happen where Toyota, Honda, even smart, have such a head start? The brand will test the waters at the New York auto show with a trio of 1.0-liter concept cars—which you can vote on at vote4chevrolet.com. After the show, no doubt, hundreds of GMers will spend thousands of hours dissecting the data from the poll and from the show, trying to figure out if enough people would buy something from Chevy instead of a Yaris, a Fit, or an xB. There are good signs for Chevrolet—the Aveo’s been a solid success. And the lessons from the Aveo are already being put to use with the Trax concept (the other two names will be revealed in New York). The Trax, for example, has been designed in South Korea to meet all relevant regulations in all markets. That means U.S. safety, Europe pedestrian, Japan emissions. Will it fly worldwide, under a bowtie logo? We’ll let you know as we cover the New York show.

GM Has Trax Concept for New York—TheCarConnection.com

Blind item: which Detroit designer’s feeling the heat? Which NYC-based auto exec is plotting his own swan dive? More to the point, how long before folks mistake us for the Star?

In real news this week, GM turned in a great profit—great by 2007 standards. By 1991 standards it would be Rick Wagoner, not his Blue Devils, making an early exit. Indianapolis, you are but a fond memory.

Ghosn is letting go of America. Like his French subjects, he must only really dig us when we save his ass.

Ford is sort of letting go of Aston Martin—but that token share they held on to is strictly a face-saving measure. Ford’s Euro bread is totally buttered in Britain, so don’t count on Jaguar going away until an even bigger sugar daddy strides on the scene.

Write it in ink: the 2007 New York auto show is where Toyota officially got scared of Hyundai.

BMW’s X6 is a go – now the only question is, what do you call a luxury four-door crossover cruiser? Our first guess is “pricey.”

Disses, not kisses: a Michigan politician thinks Schwarzenegger is telling his state to “drop dead.” No, dude—what he’s really saying would be more like, “Listen to me now und hear me later, you should drop dead, okay?” But that wouldn’t fit on a billboard, would it?

Driving while texting: is there an auto-reply that reads “call 911?”

Apparently, unicorns suck at driving and at being real.

And finally this week, sleeping pills could be causing sleep driving. We’d argue with you about it, but the talking beaver in the passenger seat is demanding “fourth meal.”