Car dealerships tend to clump together. It’s common to drive down a street and see the signs for Dodge, Nissan, Kia, Ford, Toyota, Hyundai and many others all nearby. Choosing one brand over another can be a difficult decision, let alone which specific vehicle you’re interested in from among the many different brands. 

Every person has their own needs when it comes to different vehicles. Some people find reliability important as they don’t like going to the mechanic. Others are concerned with safety and the potential implications of a crash. It can be very surprising for people who are brand loyal to see some of the rankings below. These rankings should help with the difficult decisions needed in buying a new car. 

Best Selling Car Brands

While it’s great for cars to get awards, critics aren’t always right. It’s much like a movie. It’s very possible for critics to hate a movie while fans go away incredibly happy. The same can be said for vehicles and best selling brands say a lot. What follows are the top 10 brands in sales for 2019 in the United States. 

1. Ford - Not surprising considering just how many F150s Ford sells each year!
2. Toyota - Toyota sells a lot of Corollas and Camrys, but their crossovers and SUVS are huge sellers as well. 
3. Chevrolet - Never rule out Chevrolet when it comes to sales with their balanced car and truck lineups. 
4. Honda - Honda sells so many Civics and Accords that they are regularly among the top 5 in overall sales in the United States. 
5. Nissan - Nissan has continued to rise after sales slumps over a decade ago. 
6. Jeep - As long as people crave crossovers and SUVs, Jeep will keep selling well. 
7. Ram - Ram split off from the Dodge badge, which brought both down. If they were combined together, they’d be up ahead of Honda. (Dodge’s car line finished 12th overall) 
8. Subaru - Perhaps a bit of a surprise to see Subaru ahead of the gigantic Korean auto retailers below them, but it says something about Subaru quality. 
9. Hyundai - Hyundai is in the top 10, though their goal is certainly to grow larger. Their Genesis luxury brand will make some appearances later in this article. 
10. Kia - Another brand from Korea, Kia comes in right behind their neighbor Hyundai. Kia’s growth in the United States has focused around their increased build quality. 

Safest Car Brands

Safety is crucial. No human can move at the speed a car can, so crashes result in serious injuries if the car isn’t properly safe. Brands spend millions every year crash testing their vehicles to keep their passengers safe in as many aspects as possible. 

1. Genesis - Genesis takes the top spot in safety ratings with five star results everywhere. 
2. Volvo - Volvo has to be grumpy about losing their absolute top spot in safety. That being said, driving a Volvo is always safe. 
3. Tesla - The electric technology giant creates safe cars. The downside is how hard it is to get one! 
4. Mercedes Benz - Nice to see Mercedes showing off their incredible safety throughout their huge number of different vehicles. 
5. Mazda - The safest vehicle maker from Japan is surprisingly Mazda! Their zoom zoom advertising belies safe and excellent vehicles. 
6. Subaru - Another vehicle maker well known for safe vehicles is Subaru and they don’t disappoint. 
7. Lincoln - Lincoln might not have a reputation for anything but luxury. Their safety ratings should get more credit! 
8. Acura - Acura represents safety, luxury and value all at the same time. 
9. Hyundai - It’s always a good sign when a mass manufacturer like Hyundai manages to get into the top 10 in safety ratings! 
10. Audi - Germany luxury comes through with another safe brand in Audi. 

Most Reliable Car Brands

It can be tricky to determine which car is the “most” reliable brand. Thankfully, the good people at JD Power did it for you! They surveyed many thousands of their readers and car owners to help figure out how many issues they were having after a few years of ownership, and ranked each brand by the number of problems/100 vehicles. The results are interesting. 

1. Genesis - The hyundai luxury brand actually showed off incredible reliability and took top spot in the results. Considering they also were #1 in safest cars, Genesis really should be pretty happy with their recent test results. 
2. Lexus - Lexus is well known for their incredible reliability, as is their parent company Toyota, who also find themselves high on this list. 
3. Buick - The highest rated and most reliable American car may be a bit of a surprise, but overall Buick has something to brag about here. 
4. Porsche - Sports cars aren’t always known for reliability, but Porsche manages both. 
5. Toyota - Toyota had a little bit of a slip up when it came to reliability through a series of recalls in past years. They are back and producing at their trademark quality again. 
6. Volksagen - Volkswagen managed to beat their luxury division (Audi) in the reliability department, which is always impressive. 
7. Lincoln - American luxury needed a spot on the most reliable car brands and Lincoln did a great job being seventh. 
8. Chevrolet - This was actually a tie with BMW. Think about that. An American company perhaps not always known for reliability matching a luxury european automaker. Great news for Chevrolet!
9. BMW - The Bavarian Motor Works still makes the top 10 in a category they have historically been quite high in. 
10. Ford - They don’t just make a huge number of vehicles, they also make quality vehicles. 

Some other major manufacturers just missed out on making it into the top 10. Mazda finished 11th, Hyundai were 13th and tied Kia, while Nissan tied for 15th with Audi. Even average rankings aren’t too bad considering 32 brands were tested.