Design Engineers Reveal Which Vehicles They’re Driven to Drive

People who work for auto companies usually are honor-bound--often even required--to drive what their employers make. So asking car folk what they drive says little about the vehicles.

A better indication of what’s hot comes from Design News, which each year asks its readership of 335,000 engineers which cars they own and which they would buy on the basis of quality and good engineering. The twice-monthly periodical caters to designers of everything from automobiles to spacecraft; 17% of its readers work in auto-related fields.

The year’s survey, the 22nd, shows Ford is preferred by the largest group. About 18% of respondents said they drive a Taurus, Explorer or F-Series pickup truck; 14% said they would choose a Ford product if they were buying a new car or truck today.

Survey respondents named the Honda Civic the top car in the under-$15,000 category, ahead of Ford’s Focus, Toyota’s Corolla and various Hyundai and Saturn models, in a traffic jam of a tie for second place.

Honda’s Accord placed first among vehicles priced $15,000 to $24,000, followed by the Toyota Camry and Volkswagen Jetta.

The BMW 3-Series led entrants in the $25,000-to-$34,999 price range, followed by several Lexus models, GM and Ford pickups and upscale versions of the Camry.

BMW--this time the 5-Series cars--took top honors in the $35,000-to-$44,999 category. Models from Mercedes-Benz and Lexus tied for second, and Volvo placed fourth.

Continuing the Bavarians’ streak, the BMW 7-Series luxury sedans and M3 high-performance coupe placed first in the $45,000-and-up category, again followed by Mercedes-Benz and Lexus.