Ford Motor Co., the only major U.S. automaker that didn’t receive a government bailout, improved the most since last year in Consumer Reports’s annual automaker rankings, bolstered by reliability for resale value.

Ford received 67 points out of 100, according to results released by the magazine today at the National Press Club in Washington. It didn’t provide a year-earlier comparison. Consumer Reports commended the manufacturer for the amount of room inside its vehicles, and for how they accelerate and ride.

The Dearborn, Michigan-based company’s Mustang was the No. 1 sports pick, placing a U.S. manufacturer at the top of that list for the first time in six years. Top picks in other categories include Honda Motor Co.’s Fit for the new category of budget cars, Hyundai Motor Co.’s Elantra for small cars and Nissan Motor Co.’s Altima for family sedans for the second year.

“They come from many different manufacturers,” Consumer Reports Director of Automotive Testing David Champion said in an interview. “At one time, it used to be dominated by Honda and Toyota.”

Ford ranked fifth overall following Honda, Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd’s Subaru unit, Toyota Motor Corp. and Volvo AB.

The rankings by Yonkers, New York-based Consumer Reports influence car buyers and are published in the magazine’s annual auto issue. Consumer Reports, published by Consumers Union, uses vehicle owner reliability surveys from 1.3 million people, government and insurance-industry crash tests and its own evaluations of how vehicles function for its ratings.