Japanese Dominate List Of Preferred Cars

Cars made by Japanese companies outnumber Americans by a nearly 2-to-1 margin on Consumer Reports’ annual recommended list, but the domestic companies are catching up.

The magazine’s auto edition - one of the most widely followed guides for American car shoppers - recommends 52 Japanese 1997 models for purchase vs. 27 Americans.

That’s a slightly better performance for the United States than last year, when Consumer Reports recommended 57 Japanese and 23 American cars.

European cars also fared slightly better this year. The magazine recommended 14 of them compared with 11 last year.

Like last year, the magazine picked the 1997 Toyota Camry as the best family sedan. The Mazda Protege replaced the Honda Civic as the best small car. The Toyota 4Runner replaced the Ford Explorer as the best sport utility vehicle.

Continuing its reign as the best car regardless of price was the Mercedes-Benz E320, but the magazine noted that at $44,800, the car isn’t as a good a buy as four others selling for $10,000 less.