American companies didn’t perform so well — rather, they performed quite poorly. In the annual quality rankings, America’s top brand placed 14th out of 26 brands, Bloomberg reported. Japanese manufacturers accounted for the first seven slots on the list, and accounted for eight of the top ten.

Toyota’s (NYSE:TM) Lexus brand took the number one spot for quality. The luxury brand is renowned for its smooth, quiet, and comfortable rides, and unparalleled reliability. With the introduction of its F Sport line, Lexus is also shaking its image as being the dull, muted luxury car that it has built in the past.

Consumer Reports changed its ranking system this year, breaking out brands instead of ranking automakers according to collective scores for all their lines. “We feel this is more in line with how people shop,” Rik Paul, the magazine’s automotive editor, said in an interview Tuesday, prior to the rankings being released. For example, Toyota, Lexus, and Scion models were scored separately this year instead of being calculated into a single score for Toyota.

GM’s (

The bottom six brands were American based. While GM had the top American slot, its Buick brand ranked almost last. Among the bottom brands were Ford’s (NYSE:F) namesake and Lincoln brands. Jeep and Dodge, while being parented by the Fiat-owned Chrysler Group LLC, are still American based.

Paul noted that the American brands have been getting much better, but as they improve, the foreign producers keep raising the bar. Ford, GM and Chrysler all took the news quite well, judging by their comments on the matter. All three acknowledged their shortcomings, but were proud, as they should be, of the substantial progress they have made in the last few years. They also promised big things coming in the months and years ahead.

Ford is focusing on its transmissions and “infotainment” system, both of which have drawn criticisms in the industry. GM plans to turn over 70 percent of its lineup in the next year, and “[anticipates] grand and glorious things in the future,” according to Mike Hardie, the automaker’s director of global quality strategy.

Chrysler responded directly to the feedback from Consumer Reports: “Although we are moving in the right direction, we’ll be the first to acknowledge that we need to improve faster,” Doug Betts, senior vice president for quality, said in an e-mail. “We’re aggressively upgrading our product lineup. For example, we’re already making significant investments to vehicles already recommended by Consumer Reports — Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango.”

It should be said that the Consumer Reports publication is not a be-all, end-all review of the car industry. Although these reports are widely respected as a quality buying guide, many other publications have ranked the brands differently. Motor Trend, for example, gave the Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Model S its prestigious award, lending hope that the American auto industry can regain at least some of its former glory.

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