Ninety-percent of the cars and trucks built by Ford now have average or better than average reliability, according to Consumer Reports' latest survey.  That puts the Detroit-based automaker on a nearly equal footing with perpetual quality leaders Toyota and Honda, and well ahead of its American rivals.

CR finds, "Of the 51 Ford, Mercury, and Lincoln products that we surveyed, 46, or about 90 percent, were average or better."  The two major Japanese brands narrowly beat that performance.  "All Hondas and Acuras were average or above. Toyota, with its Lexus and Scion brands providing a broader product range, had just one vehicle that was below average in reliability, the Lexus GS AWD."

CNBC notes, "Only the Toyota Prius beat out the Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan for reliability among family sedans." 

No other American automaker came close.  Autoblog reports, "General Motors had 20 of 48 models score average reliability, while Chrysler saw one-third of its models place below average."  Chrysler saw just four percent of its lineup earn average or better-than-average reliability ratings - the worst showing of any automaker in the survey.

Still, the result was an improvement for Chrysler.  Kicking Tires notes, "Last year, Chrysler had no vehicles breaking the 'average' barrier, but this year the new Dodge Ram 1500 pickup truck earned a place among the middle of the pack."

Chrysler's poor showing kept America behind in the global race.  Autoblog notes, "Of all the Asian models included in the report, 69 percent scored above average reliability, while only 47 percent of European models and 42 percent of American models could claim the same."

The scores, Jalopnik says, are "good marketing news for Ford, [which] is already benefiting from the marketing boon of not taking federal bailouts."

The most and least reliable cars in each category are as follows:

Small Cars
Most Reliable: Honda Insight
Least Reliable: Nissan Versa sedan

Family Cars
Most:  Toyota Prius
Least: Chrysler Sebring/Dodge Avenger

Luxury Cars
Most: Infiniti M35 (RWD)
Least: Jaguar XF

Sporty Cars, Coupes and Convertibles
Most: Lexus SC
Least: Chrysler Sebring convertible

Wagons and Minivans
Most: Toyota Venza
Least: Chrysler Town & Country/Dodge Grand Caravan

Small SUVs
Most: Honda CR-V
Least: Saturn Vue (V6)

Midsize SUVs
Most: Toyota FJ Cruiser
Least: Jeep Commander

Luxury SUVs
Most: Mercedes-Benz GLK
Least: VW Touareg

Large SUVs
Most: Toyota Sequoia
Least: Chevy Suburban 2500

Pickups
Most: Toyota Tundra
Least: Chevy Colorado

If you're in the market for a new car, check out the U.S. News rankings of this year's best cars as well as this month's best car deals.