As 2016 is winding down, 24/7 Wall St. is taking a look at some of the best car models that are available in the U.S. market. These models were not chosen by us per se, but by Kelley Blue Book through an extensive evaluation. Essentially these vehicles are considered the cream of the crop by top analysts across a few categories. Although Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (NYSE: HMC) topped the list, other notable mentions were Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (NYSE: FCAU), Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM), Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) and General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM).
The Kelley Blue Book Best Buy Awards are predicated on providing buyers the information necessary to make an informed decision when choosing a car, in this case they are taking stock of the available 2017 model-year vehicles.
The awards are the culmination of a year-long regimen of expert vehicle evaluation and testing of nearly every new vehicle available in America, along with analysis of a broad swath of vehicle-related data, including vehicle pricing/transaction prices, five-year cost to own data (which includes depreciation, insurance, maintenance, financing, fuel, fees and taxes for new cars), consumer reviews and ratings, and vehicle sales/retail sales information. Of more than 300 new-car models available for 2017, Kelley Blue Book’s expert editors initially narrowed the field to a few dozen Best Buy Award contenders in 12 major vehicle categories and then spent several weeks testing and evaluating all the finalists head-to-head to ultimately determine the winners.
Overall, the 2017 Honda Civic took first place as Kelley Blue Book’s Best Buy of 2017. Jack R. Nerad, executive editorial director and executive market analyst for Kelley Blue Book’s KBB.com, commented on the ranking:
After carefully analyzing a wealth of data and conducting extensive vehicle testing and evaluation from the hundreds of models available for the 2017 model-year, we chose this elite group of 12 Kelley Blue Book Best Buy Award winners because they proved to be the top in their class this year. Kelley Blue Book editors went to the unprecedented choice of honoring the Honda Civic as the Overall Best Buy for the second year in a row because of the Civic’s unsurpassed all-around value. It turns in very high marks in objective measures like resale value and cost to own, yet it also is a supremely satisfying car to drive and live with every day. We believe the 2017 Civic is an exceptional value and remains the Overall Best Buy for the second year running.
The site listed a few of the other top picks as follows:
- Small car: 2017 Honda Civic
- Midsize car: 2017 Honda Accord
- Full-size car: 2017 Chevrolet Impala
- Luxury car: 2017 Audi A4
- Sports/performance car: 2017 Porsche 718 Boxter
- Electricity/hybrid: 2017 Toyota Prius Prime
- Small SUV/crossover: 2017 KIA Sportage
- Midsize SUV/crossover: Honda Pilot
- Full-size SUV/crossover: 2017 Chevrolet Tahoe
- Luxury SUV/crossover: 2017 Mercedes-Benz GLC
- Truck: 2017 Ford F-150
- Minivan: 2017 Chrysler Pacifica
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