Out of 194 independent states of the world, only 52 countries follow a system of RHD vehicles. The system proposes to drive on the left hand side of the road for which the vehicles required are RHD or in other words right hand steering mounted vehicles. There are no specific reasons attached to it but this is how the system has actually differentiated the two class of people preference. The major drawback being faced by vehicle buyers is that the biggest producer of vehicle i.e. Japan, only produces Right Hand Drive vehicles.

It is quite common these days that things which are shorter in supply are highly demanded. Likewise, land cruisers from Japan are one of the highly demanded vehicles all over the world. It is not that people want to drive a right handed land cruiser but the preference is given to a Japanese brand. Besides right hand drive Toyota there is a huge demand of other right hand drive vehicles all over the world, which is intact since ages only because of the reliability of the Japanese Brand. On the other hand, many countries only permit left hand drive vehicles on the road and have strict laws and policies for RHD vehicles. These countries include USA, Canada, UAE, South American states and many others. Therefore, in order to satisfy the impulsive demand of right hand drive Toyotas and other right hand drive Japanese vehicles, technology is now allowing a Japanese vehicle admirer to get the vehicles changed into a LHD.

The conversion of a RHD vehicle into a left hand driven vehicle offers plentiful benefits keeping other things constant. First of all, the vehicles get into that particular country’s traffic law compliance and secondly the driver does not have to get worried with the changed driver seat. Make a note that before going ahead with the steering mount transplantation many risks and a lot of money has to be brought into consideration. This not only satisfies the excessive demand for vehicles but it also promotes imports of that particular country. Buying an originally left handed vehicle may be expensive as that vehicle has to be imported from North America, Korea or Singapore whereas people seeking quality Japanese vehicles, can quench their hunt by converting a second hand or any other make into a left hand drive vehicles within less than a few days.

Many countries have banned the imports on Japanese vehicles i.e. vehicles. The reasons being common above all the restriction and ban policies is that the RHD vehicles are not made environment friendly and they are expected to cause more damage to the surroundings. Especially Canada has real strict policies on not only driving a but also importing one. Therefore the steering turning process has made it a lot easier for the government as well as for the natives of such countries. By George W Thomas

This article examines Consumer Reports’ 2007 recommendations of automobile models for the Chevrolet, Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, and Kia brands in order to see how their reliability fared just 3 years later. It delves into the questions: (1) How good are CR’s recommendations? and (2) Is U.S.-based Consumer Reports biased in favor of the U.S.-based General Motors Corporation?

Consumer Reports’ reliability ratings are highly valued by many consumers as they are statistical studies of reported serious problems, or the absence of such, for hundreds of thousands of vehicles, as gathered from its subscribers in an annual survey. However, should its annual recommendations be accorded similar respect? To answer this question, I examine some of CR’s 2007 recommendations.

In the April 2007 issue of Consumer Reports, the magazine recommended three Chevrolet automobile models – one wagon, one sedan, and one SUV. They were:

Chevrolet HHR, the wagon
Chevrolet Impala, the sedan
Chevrolet Tahoe, the sport-utilityvehicle.

As there were only 3 Chevrolet models that were recommended, consumers might reasonably have anticipated that they merited consideration and that from one of the models they may confidently make a purchase. However, before the three 2007 models were 3 years old, all three were on Consumer Reports’ 2010 Worst Car list, a list based on reported serious problems.

The question arises: Were these just bad, or awful, recommendations, or are they evidence of a bias in favor of U.S.-based General Motors Corporation, owner of the Chevrolet brand, by U.S.-based Consumer Reports?

Evidence suggesting a bias in favor of U.S.-based General Motors comes from recommendations of Toyota, Honda, and Hyundai models. For the Toyota brand, Consumer Reports’ 2007 recommendations were:

Toyota 4Runner, a midsize sport-utility vehicle
Toyota Avalon, a large sedan
Toyota Camry, a midsize sedan
Toyota Camry, a convertible or coupe
Toyota Corolla, a small sedan
Toyota Highlander, a midsize SUV
Toyota Matrix, a small wagon
Toyota Prius, a hybrid 4-door hatchback
Toyota RAV4, a small SUV
Toyota Sequoia, a large SUV
Toyota Sienna, a minivan
Toyota Tacoma, a midsize pickup.

And for the Honda brand, CR’s 2007 recommendations were:

Honda CR-V, a small sport-utility vehicle
Honda Civic, a coupe or sedan
Honda Civic Si, a coupe or sedan
Honda Element, a small, boxy SUV
Honda Fit, a small 4-door hatchback
Honda Odyssey, a minivan
Honda Pilot, a midsize SUV
Honda Ridgeline, a midsize pickup.

And for the Hyundai brand, CR’s 2007 recommendations were:

Hyundai Entourage, a minivan
Hyundai Sonata, a sedan
Hyundai Tucson, a small sport-utility vehicle.

Of these 23 models recommended in 2007, not one was on CR’s 2010 Worst Car list.

Further evidence that U.S.-based Consumer Reports may have a bias favoring GM rests in its own 2007 Worst Car (Used Cars to Avoid) list. General Motors accounted for a whopping 37% of this list, suggesting that recommending any GM product was unwise.

However, evidence that these were merely bad recommendations may be found in CR’s Kia recommendations. In 2007, Consumer Reports recommended the following Kia models:

Kia Amanti, a sedan
Kia Sedona, a minivan
Kia Sorento, a small sport-utility vehicle.

Three years later, both the 2007 Sedona and the 2007 Sorento were on CR’s 2010 list of Worst Cars.