Consumer Reports: Rivian is the most loved car brand for 2023, Tesla down to fifth

Consumer Reports' annual owner survey is out, and Rivian takes the lead as the most loved brand of all car makers, scoring 5 out of 5 stars. The brand also pulls ahead in the "owner would buy again" ranking, with 86% of the owners saying they would buy another Rivian-made vehicle in the future.

The results from the questionnaire are surprising to some extent, as Consumer Reviews produced a negative review of the R1S, saying it's one of the worst cars of 2023. But apparently, consumers loved it. Rivian ranked first or was among the first in various categories - comfort, driving, cabin storage, and ownership cost, which includes fuel and maintenance. Admittedly, EVs usually rank well in that last category anyway.

The only category in which Rivian was assessed poorly is the usability of the interface, likely due to the heavy reliance on the digital touchscreen and the lack of analog controls.

One of the reasons why Rivian ranked well ahead of its competitors, including Tesla, is probably due to Rivian's size as a brand. It competes with only two vehicles, as opposed to more established brands, which can have good and bad models. Additionally, customer service of smaller brands tends to be better.

Take Tesla, for example, it used to rank with scores over 90% in previous years but has since fallen to fifth place with a 74% score in 2023.

Still, Rivian was the only brand out of 29 to receive a 5/5 star rating, and about 330,000 readers took part in the survey, so it has to mean something, right?

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