THE AUDI A5 coupe is the most popular car, according to a new report by consumer magazine Which? Car.

The Audi A5 rated above the Skoda Superb, Mazda MX-5 sports car and Porsche Boxster roadster. Audi’s sports coupe TT model ranked eighth.

Owners rated the Audi A5 Coupe’s looks and performance. But there was a note of caution: it was the least reliable new car, joint bottom with the Ford Galaxy.

Japanese brands makes owners most happy overall says Which? Car, with five cars in the top 10 of the owners’ satisfaction table. French cars, on the other hand, are the least satisfying to own, with four Renaults, a Peugeot and a Citroën at the bottom of the list.

Bottom of the Which? Car pile is the Renault Espace (1997-2003). But, says Which Car?, the Espace wasn’t the only Renault to come in for criticism. Owners described the Mégane (1996-2003) as “a pile of rubbish”; the Laguna (2001-2007) as “an impulse buy… regretted ever since”; and the Espace as a “fantastic car, if only it would work for longer than a month at a time.”

Which? Car editor, Richard Headland, commented: “It’s no surprise that owners love their Japanese cars. They’re reliable, reasonably priced and cheap to run. But down in the Which? Car hall of shame, owners of some French cars seem to be less than enamoured with their motors.

“It’s the honeymoon period for the relatively new Audi A5 – smitten owners may soon fall out of love with it if reliability doesn’t improve.”

The Which Car? survey was conducted among 77,000 Which? members who reported on how satisfied they’d been with their cars over the past 12 months. The results are presented as a percentage of the 84,119 cars in the data collected.

Which Car? Top 10 most popular cars

• 1 Audi A5 (2007 on), 97%
• 2 Skoda Superb (2002-2008), 96%
• 3 Mazda MX-5 (2005 on), 96%
• 4 Porsche Boxster (2004 on), 96%
• 5 Mazda MX-5 (1998-2005), 96%
• 6 Honda Jazz (2008 on), 95%
• 7 Toyota Yaris Verso (2000-2005), 95%
• 8 Audi TT (2006 on), 94%
• 9 Honda Jazz (2002-2008), 94%
• 10 Fiat 500 (2008 on), 94%

Which Car? bottom 10 least popular cars

• 286 Rover 200/25 (1995-2005), 66%
• 287 Citroën Saxo (1996-2003), 65%
• 288 Renault Espace (2003 on), 65%
• 289 Renault Laguna (2001-2007), 65
• 290 Fiat Punto (1999-2006), 65%
• 291 Kia Rio (2001-2005), 64%
• 292 Jeep Cherokee (2001-2007), 61%
• 293 Renault Mégane (1996-2003), 61%
• 294 Peugeot 307CC (2003-2008), 61%
• 295 Renault Espace (1997-2003), 57%

Japanese brands provide most satisfaction