Germany’s largest automotive magazine, Auto Bild, has published its highly-respect “Quality Report” for 2007. For the third year in a row, Mazda ranked first, out-distancing 24 car brands including second-place Toyotaand German luxury brands like Mercedes and BMW.

First conducted in 2001, Auto Bild’s “Quality Report” compiles the results of seven criteria – endurance tests, car owner surveys (22,795 Auto Bild subscribers), recalls, Germany’s TÜV Report, customer complaints at Auto Bild, type of warranties and the quality of dealers based on secret service tests – for a comprehensive picture of quality in Europe’s largest market according to brand.

As was the case during the previous two reports, Mazda quality was evident in all aspects of the survey. Especially strong results were achieved in categories reflecting long-term quality: on the TÜV Report (for cars that are 2 and 3 years old) and on Auto Bild’s 100,000 km Endurance Test – where the Mazda5 is currently half-way through with no breakdowns. Mazda6 has been ranked first here since 2004, being the only car ever to come through with no breakdowns whatsoever.

Mazda also scored high on the owner survey for low repair frequency and high body build quality, which enabled the brand to improve on last year’s excellent result. And results reflecting customer satisfaction and warranty performance – traditional strengths of Mazda models – were once again very positive.