It’s time again for the annual American Top Picks list. While we don’t consider country of origin as a factor in our Ratings for our primary Top Picks list, the piles of mail (snail and e-mail) we get leave us no doubt that many people factor “buying American” into their decision. So, for those folks, this list looks at what domestic-branded cars are the best choices out there.
It would be a relatively simple matter to compile this list if Top Picks were merely the highest-scoring car in each group. But to be a Top Pick, a car has to have performed well in our testing, be relatively trouble-free to own, and safe, too. Here are the other criteria to determining a Top Pick: We need to have reliability data for the car, and that data must show at least average or better reliability. Stability control must be readily available. If crash tested, the results have to be decent.
These criteria wind up knocking some very good cars—particularly some recent GM products—out of contention from our American Top Picks list. To illustrate, here’s the list of the top-rated domestic-branded car in each class next to the one that meets all of the criteria:
| Category | Top-scoring American car | American Top Pick |
| Small sedan | None recommended | None |
| Family sedan | Chevrolet Malibu LTZ V6 | Ford Taurus |
| Upscale sedan | Cadillac CTS | Buick Lucerne CXS |
| Luxury sedan | Cadillac STS | Cadillac STS |
| Small SUV | Saturn Vue XR | None |
| Midsized SUV | Saturn Outlook XR
GMC Acadia SLT2
Ford Taurus X | Saturn Outlook XR
GMC Acadia SLT2 Ford Taurus X |
| Minivan | Chrysler Town and Country | None |
| Pickup truck | Chevrolet Avalanche | Chevrolet Silverado |
| Fun to drive | Chevrolet Corvette Z06 | None |
| Green car | None tested | None |
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