2026 American Customer Satisfaction Index: Toyota Leads While GM, Tesla, and Lexus Slip

The American Customer Satisfaction Index, which has measured consumer satisfaction across dozens of U.S. industries since 1994, has just released its 2026 findings on the auto industry. And wow, there has been some significant reshuffling of the “natural order of things.” We have the high-level highlights showing which brands are up and which have slid a bit, meaning some management teams may have some explaining to do to shareholders.

Note that this industrywide survey was originally developed in partnership with the University of Michigan National Quality Research Center, the American Society for Quality, and the CFI Group consultancy. Its foundational purpose was to measure the quality of economic output from the consumer’s perspective, as a complement to objective measures like gross domestic product output. Hence, they cover all manner of consumer goods and services.

Luxury and Mass Market Segments Converge

For years, luxury brands held an edge over their mass-market counterparts, but this year the luxury players dropped 3 points to 78 (out of 100) just as the mass-market segment dropped 1 point—also to 78. Affordability issues are partially to blame, as tariff uncertainty and rising prices reshape who buys new cars and what they expect for their money.

Hybrids For the Win

Consumers are reporting greater satisfaction with hybrids, with this fuel type averaging 80 (same as last year), while gasoline-only vehicles slipped 3 points to 78 and pure electrics drop another point to 72. This phenomenon is powering the convergence above, as people making car payments over six or seven years consider reliability and value more than they used to, and hybrids have become the compelling value proposition, saving fuel with no range or infrastructure concerns.

Toyota Leads Industry

Rising 1 point to 83, Toyota sits in the number-one spot. Toyota and Honda (down 1 to 80) both offer sedan lineups that can offer lower transaction prices than the SUVs that largely fill their competitors’ lineups. Toyota sold a record 10.5 million vehicles in 2025 with hybrids accounting for 42 percent of those sales.

Subaru Yo-Yos Down to 81

Still in a strong position, the brand’s 5-point drop represents a bigger fall than last year’s rise. Still, it’s a sad slide from the number-one position among mass-market brands in 2025.

Ram, Kia, Jeep Biggest Gainers

Stellantis’ truck brand surged 7 points, rising to 74, while both Kia and Jeep added 3 points, rising to 79 and 76 respectively. Elsewhere at Stellantis, Dodge holds flat at 72 and Chrysler drops another 3 points to 67.

Bad News for GM

Dropping 16 points to 68, Buick posted the survey’s largest drop, leading disappointing results across GM’s other brands. GMC was down 6 to 76, Chevrolet dropped 5 to 75, and Cadillac plunged 15 points to 69, ranking it last among luxury brands. It’s thought that the impact of tariffs was worse for GM than for some competitors.

Mercedes Tops Luxury Brands

Falling 1 point to 81, the three-pointed star just managed to stay ahead of Audi, which jumped 4 points to 80, marking the segment’s biggest surge, clawing back the 4 points it lost last year due to EV frustrations.

Lexus Down 10 Percent

Having dominated this list over most of its history, the brand scored 78 for 2026. Probably not coincidentally, the brand enjoyed record US sales in 2025 (up 7.1 percent) with electrified vehicles accounting for 35.6 percent of those sales.

Tesla Continues Downward Streak

The 2026 score of 78 marks a 4 point drop, continuing a two-year downward trend, after sharing the luxury co-lead. At least it’s tied with Lexus.