Influential magazine Consumer Reports has come out with its annual list of the top rated car brands and once again Japanese makes have dominated the field. First and second places were taken up by Toyota and Honda but this year’s result also saw U.S. automakers improve their standings, with three of the top five spots going to one of the Detroit 3 brands.

The survey focuses on how consumers perceive and rank car brands in seven crucial areas, including safety, quality, value, performance, environmental friendliness, design, and technological innovation. It also looks at which of those factors are most important to consumers when buying a vehicle.

The survey data was collected from 1,720 adults whose households own at least one car. The most important aspects consumers looked for in brand were safety, which was considered most important by 63% of those in the study, followed by quality on 58%.

The field of worst performers shows just how mediocre some brands are considered in the U.S. despite being popular overseas. Audi, which scored just 14 points, will have to work extremely hard to overcome its poor image if it has any hope of trying to compete with the likes of Mercedes and BMW.

The results of the study are as follows.

Best:

Toyota - 189

Honda - 146

Ford - 112

Chevrolet - 110

GMC - 102

Worst:

Buick - 25

Mercury - 22

Mitsubishi - 21

Audi - 14

Acura - 8