Toyota came away the big winner in the latest round of the Vincentric Best Value in America awards, with the Japanese manufacturer taking home two brand awards and 12 individual class honours.
Toyota captured the Best Value Passenger Vehicle Brand, while its luxury arm Lexus took home the Best Value Luxury Brand award. Chevrolet took home the other brand award up for grabs, claiming the Best Value Truck Brand.
In the 41 vehicle segments, Toyota again topped the trophy grab with 12 of its vehicles (from Lexus, Scion and Toyota brands) picking up segment wins, which was far and away better than the next best tally, registered by General Motors (with Buick, Chevrolet and GMC topping segments) and Honda (but no Acuras) following closely behind with four. Mazda and the Volkswagen Group (all won by Audi) rounded out the top five with three individual awards each.
Toyota nearly swept away all seven of the hybrid segments with only Infiniti and Kia registering one win each, and GM notched segment wins in cars, crossovers, SUVs and pickups.
“Twenty-one different brands were recognized in the 2015 Vincentric Best Value in America awards,” stated David Wurster, President of Vincentric. “The distribution of winning vehicles across this many brands demonstrates the great importance that all manufacturers place on total cost of ownership as they develop vehicles that best meet their customers’ needs.”
Other brands registered two class wins each — the BMW Group (one each for BMW and Mini), Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (with Ram and Jeep taking class wins), Ford (both for Ford and Lincoln vehicles), the Hyundai Group (which included a Kia segment win), Jaguar Land Rover (both for Jaguar), and Volvo — and single segments were captured by Nissan (Infiniti, to be exact) and Subaru.
As for individual nameplates, there were several multi-award winners. The Honda Accord took home top prize in the Mid-Size Coupe and Sedan segments, the Jaguar F-Type took top honours in the Premium Mid-Size Coupe and Premium Convertible segments, the Mazda3 captured the Compact Hatchback and Sedan categories, and the Toyota Highlander topped the Mid-Size and Hybrid Crossover classes.
The Vincentric Best Value in America awards measure cost-of-ownership in all 50 states, using eight different cost factors — depreciation, fees & taxes, financing, fuel, insurance, maintenance, opportunity cost, and repairs — with the winners demonstrating lower than expected ownership costs given their market segment and price.
Individual segment winners
Micro — Scion iQ
Subcompact — Hyundai Veloster
Compact Coupe — BMW 2-Series
Compact Hatchback — Mazda Mazda3
Compact Sedan — Mazda Mazda3
Compact, Hybrid — Toyota Prius v
Premium Compact Sedan — Audi S3
Premium Compact, Hybrid — Infiniti Q50 Hybrid
Electric/Plug-in Hybrid Car — Kia Soul EV
Mid-Size Coupe — Honda Accord
Premium Mid-Size Coupe — Jaguar F-Type
Mid-Size Sedan — Honda Accord
Mid-Size Sedan, Hybrid — Toyota Camry Hybrid
Premium Mid-Size Sedan — Audi A7 TDI
Premium Mid-Size Sedan, Hybrid — Lexus ES 300h
Large Sedan — Toyota Avalon
Premium Large Sedan — Buick LaCrosse
Prestige — Lexus LX 570
Convertible — Mini Cooper
Premium Convertible — Jaguar F-Type
Sports Car — Ford Mustang
Premium Sports Car — Audi TT
Wagon — Volvo XC70 2015.5
Entry-Level Compact Crossover — Subaru XV Crosstrek
Mid-Level Compact Crossover — Honda CR-V
Premium Compact Crossover — Volvo XC60
Mid-Size Crossover — Toyota Highlander
Premium Mid-Size Crossover — Lexus RX 350
Crossover, Hybrid — Toyota Highlander Hybrid
Premium Crossover, Hybrid — Lexus NX 300h
Large Crossover — Mazda CX-9
Premium Large Crossover — Buick Enclave
Compact/Mid-Size SUV — Jeep Wrangler
Premium Mid-Size SUV — Toyota Land Cruiser
Large SUV — Chevrolet Suburban
Premium Large SUV — Lincoln Navigator
Minivan — Honda Odyssey
Mid-Size Pickup — Toyota Tacoma
Full Size 1/2-Ton Pickup — Ram 1500
Full Size 3/4-Ton Heavy Duty Pickup — Chevrolet Silverado 2500
Full-Size 1-Ton Heavy Duty Pickup — GMC Sierra 3500