( dpa ) - German cars have clawed back their reputation for reliability from Japanese models with a raft of BMWs set to win the main awards in the coming week from a German motorists' club.
The ADAC, which operates repair patrols on German highways fixing broken-down cars, said it would hand its "Yellow Angel" quality prize for the car that practically never needs fixing to the BMW X3 sports utility vehicle.
Close behind it at the January 17 awards would be Volkswagen Group's Audi A2, followed by the BMW 1 Series and the BMW Mini. All four are manufactured in Germany.
The announcement comes four days after a national vehicle- certification company, Dekra, said German cars were back on top, with the BMW 1 Series the winner.
The 1 Series had passed tests with flying colours 97.8 per cent of the time when presented with less than 30,000 kilometres on the odometer. Dekra compared 15 million German vehicle tests and issued a top-21 list containing 14 German makes.
The ADAC said in Munich that German makers had got the message after furious criticism of their build standards.
Only two cars from Japan, which has repeatedly led in reliability and held at least five spots in the annual top 10 for years, qualified for the 2008 top 10: the Mazda 3 (ranked 5th) and the Mitsubishi Space Star (10th).
The ADAC awards combine roadside repair statistics and a customer satisfaction survey among ADAC members.
Back in 2005, the German motor industry hung its head in shame when 9 of the top 10 were Japanese models.