The German sports car Porsche took the No. 1 spot in the annual study, which gave it ninth place last year. Lincoln improves by six rank positions from 2009 to follow Porsche in the nameplate rankings. Porsche had 110 problems per 100 vehicles. Lincoln was second with 114 problems per 100 vehicles, followed by Buick and Lexus in a tie with 115 problems per 100 vehicles.

Toyota continues to perform well in long-term dependability and garners four segment awards-more than any other nameplate in 2010, for the Highlander, Prius, Sequoia and Tundra. Honda receives three segment awards for the CR-V, Fit and Ridgeline. Lincoln captures two awards for the Mark LT and MKZ. In addition, Audi, BMW, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Ford, Lexus, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz and Mercury each receive a model segment award.

In seven of the 10 models with the lowest incidence of problems in the industry are from Ford and General Motors, including the 2007 model-year Buick Lacrosse, Buick Lucerne, Cadillac DTS, Ford Five Hundred, Lincoln MKZ, Mercury Milan, and Mercury Montego.

The 2010 Vehicle Dependability Study is based on responses from more than 52,000 original owners of 2007 model-year vehicles. The study was fielded between October and December 2009.