Yes, the top 10 list is a standard way to generate a news story, just like a poll. Avoids all that pesky work of, you know, actually finding sources and reporting news and allowing more time for :beer: the main avocation of journalists.
Clue here is the Hyundai's, which, say what you will about Hyundai's, don't break that much, but have terrible resale values. For those of us who buy new and drive to destruction, this is of little concern.
Note that the article is a bit thin on HOW the ranking is calculated, but says that "...when the performance of cars is examined according to their predicted reliability, recalls and rate of depreciation...". So, let's take these one by one:
1) PREDICTED reliability. Operative word here is clearly "predicted". Based on what? By whom? I can drive a truck through that. Read this to mean "dreamed up by our editors", perhaps? Remember, J-school students do not frequently enroll in math electives.
2) Recalls. OK, better to have a car not recalled than one recalled... but better to have the maker man up and recall a problem than duck and weave and NOT recall a problem. I've owned cars like the latter, and trust me it is worse! So, I see how this gets to be a measure, but I don't think it always means what they read it to mean. Most "recalls" are pretty esoteric things that can get resolved on a routine service visit. (and my 04 Accord had a recall that required a second dealer trip, so there!)
3) Rate of Depreciation. OK. This reflects a lot more on the accumulated reputation of the manufacturer than on the quality of a specific vehicle unless/until that specific vehicle has a long history of hard data on which to base results. And it matters if:
a) if you trade often (I buy new and run to destruction, of little concern to me...)
b) you lease (higher resale value = lower lease rates, all else held equal)
c) you total it in a crash. (higher blue book value, higher payout).
But the most relevant number for your experience as an owner is how often specific things break, and according to the CR table shown earlier in this thread, and consistent with my experience, most stuff on these doesn't break much.
I have also owned lemons, and I am sure there are those on this board who have bought one of these and really been disappointed, but I think that's more rare for this vehicle than many.
So. Who died and made those guys King anyway?