Rover fared worst, with a record of 28.33 breakdowns per 100 vehicles, closely followed by Vauxhall (27.08). Ford fared little better at 23.77. Japanese and German manufacturers dominated the head of the table, occupying eight of the top ten spots, with Mitsubishi in first place with just 4.23 call outs per 100 vehicles, followed by BMW (7.11) and Mercedes (7.61).

The figures were calculated by the UK's largest contract hire company Lex Vehicle Leasing, based on rescue and recovery call outs for its fleet. Over a five year period Lex analysed the cause and frequency of mechanical breakdowns of more than 80 models from 21 manufacturers on its 73,000 strong fleet. Driver own goals, such as battery related call-outs, and alarm and immobiliser problems were excluded.

To feature in the survey, each manufacturer had to have over 200 vehicles on Lex's fleet, and in fact the smallest sample was 259 Jeeps.

The full results were: 1, Mitsubishi 4.23 (breakdowns per 100 vehicles; 2, BMW 7.11; 3, Mercedes 7.61; 4, Honda 7.89; 5, Fiat 8.88; 6, Nissan 9.16; 7, Jaguar 9.25; 8, Audi 9.32; 9, Toyota 10.82; 10, Mazda 11.78; 11, Jeep 15.83; 12, VW 16.79; 13, Land Rover 17.03; 14, Peugeot 17.41; 15, Volvo 19.40; 16, Renault 19.93; 17, Ford 23.77; 18, Saab 24.84; 19, Citroen 27.03; 20, Vauxhall 27.08; 21, Rover 28.33.