Japanese Autos Top List of Best Performers : Cars: Consumer Reports ranks them best on price and reliability. Pontiac and Saturn also get high marks.

Japanese brands lead the list of best values among vehicles sold in the United States, Consumer Reports said Monday, but the magazine also said nationality should play no role in deciding what car to buy.

In its April issue car rankings, Consumer Reports challenged the “Buy American” marketing campaign that many dealers of Big Three cars are using. The leading consumer magazine said car making has become a global business that defies national boundaries.

“In reality, what is an American car?” the magazine asked. “All the domestic manufacturers stamp their own brand names on some cars made abroad, and some build domestic cars in Mexico and Canada.”

At the same time, the magazine said, the major Japanese makers assemble their best-selling models, such as the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry, in U.S. plants.

Still, a reading of Consumer Reports’ exhaustive evaluations of 1992 models shows that Japanese nameplates generally deliver the best value based on the magazine’s criteria of safety, performance, reliability and price.

Among small cars, for example, the Acura Integra had the highest overall score, ahead of the Mazda Protege, Mazda 323, Toyota Corolla, Geo Prizm, Saturn, Mercury Tracer and Ford Escort.

In the sporty-car category, the Mazda MX-6 led; among compact cars, it was Mitsubishi Galant; among mid-size cars costing more than $25,000, the Lexus LS400 and Infiniti Q45; among mid-size cars under $25,000, Toyota Camry, Nissan Maxima, Ford Taurus and Mercury Sable were practically tied.

The Japanese brands also excelled in the small-van category, with the Toyota Previa the leader, while in the sport-utility category, the leader was the Nissan Pathfinder.

American brands scored some notable successes, however. The Pontiac Bonneville and Lincoln Continental scored close to the Lexus and Infiniti and cost about half the price. General Motors Corp.’s Saturn, designed to battle the Japanese competition, was remarkably reliable.

The magazine said it was unusual that the Saturn “turned out well above average in reliability in its first year--matching those indestructible Hondas and Toyotas. Look, Ma, a good, reliable, inexpensive small car from General Motors. And you can buy it with an air bag.”

In general, Consumer Reports said the quality of domestically produced cars has improved dramatically the past several years, but the Japanese competition also has improved.

Release of the car rankings came against a background of increasing tension between the United States and Japan over the Japanese trade surplus in cars.

The Big Three auto makers, which lost $7.6 billion in 1991, maintain that unfair Japanese trade practices have hurt their ability to compete.

Some leading U.S. auto executives and lawmakers have called for trade sanctions against the Japanese, such as higher tariffs or import limits. A number of U.S. corporations have offered their workers incentives to purchase American cars, saying it would help save American jobs. Many Ford, GM and Chrysler dealers exhort shoppers to buy them because they’re American.

Consumer Reports asserted that chest-beating patriotism misses the point.

“Not since the last recession have so many voices urged consumers to buy a car for its nationality,” the magazine said. “But cars don’t carry passports.”

Based in Yonkers, N.Y., Consumer Reports is a leading evaluator of products ranging from toaster ovens to hotel rooms, with more than 5 million subscribers. It accepts no advertising and doesn’t allow its name to be used in endorsements.

Consumer Reports purchases all the cars it tests, rather than borrowing company-provided “press cars” that the magazine called “24-karat samples whose every component has been meticulously hand-picked and fitted.”

Consumer Reports’ Favorite Cars

Here is a list of the best cars among 1992 models and their price ranges depending on the number of options, as evaluated by Consumer Reports in its April issue, on newsstands March 31. The magazine used criteria of safety, performance, reliability and price.

Best Small Car: Acura Integra, $12,350-$18,200

Best Sporty Car: Mazda MX-6, $13,450-$18,750

Best Compact Car: Mitsubishi Galant, $11,700-$22,500

Best Mid-Size Car Under $25,000: Toyota Camry, $14,350-$20,500

Best Mid-Size Car Over $25,000: Lexus LS400, $42,200

Best Big Car: Pontiac Bonneville, $18,600-$28,050

Best Small Van: Toyota Previa, $16,500-$26,100

Best Sport-Utility Vehicle: Nissan Pathfinder, $17,250-$25,300