The Japanese automaker won the best value award in four separate hybrid categories and garnered awards from its Lexus and Scion divisions, according to Michigan-based Vincentric, which has been giving out such awards for eight years. Vincentric uses eight cost-of-ownership criteria – depreciation, fees, financing, fuel, insurance, maintenance, opportunity cost (we’re not quite sure what that is) and repairs – to compare vehicles.
Toyota and Hyundai, which won four awards, both appear to have benefited from rising gas prices, which would put less fuel-efficient vehicle lines at a disadvantage when costing out ownership. Toyota’s offerings include the Prius, the world’s best-selling hybrid, while Hyundai boasts four models that have at least a 40-mile-per-gallon highway fuel economy rating.
Vincentric is one of a number of data firms that release surveys measuring cost of ownership. Earlier this week, Kelley Blue Book released a list of 15 cars it said would cost less than $30,000 to own during their first five years. Kelley, which also factors in depreciation, fueling and repair costs, only included one hybrid – the Honda Insight – on its list.
BINGHAM FARMS, Michigan – March 14th, 2012 – The 8th annual Vincentric Best Value in America awards were announced earlier today, with Toyota earning the top spot for best value passenger cars, Volvo being named the best value luxury brand, and Chevrolet earning the award for best value truck brand.
The overall Toyota performance was even stronger when including its Lexus and Scion divisions, with the manufacturer taking 13 Vincentric awards total, including four hybrid segments. Chevrolet augmented its truck strength in the electric/plug-in hybrid segment, as the Chevrolet Volt won for the second year in a row. Strong value was also shown by Hyundai vehicles, as the automaker garnered four Vincentric awards, including the two-time winner Hyundai Tucson, while Kia also had multiple winning vehicles. Notable success among the other brands included Honda, whose CR-V won for the sixth year, and Ford, whose F-150 led the popular ½ ton pickup segment.
“Our awards take into account all costs involved with owning a vehicle, which enables consumers to understand automotive value and measure the impact that owning a specific vehicle will have on their financial situation,” stated David Wurster, President of Vincentric. “Our 2012 results show strong performance from a wide variety of manufacturers, indicating that automakers continue to use cost-of-ownership as a key metric when benchmarking performance against competitors.”
Vincentric measures cost-of-ownership using eight different cost factors: depreciation, fees & taxes, financing, fuel, insurance, maintenance, opportunity cost, and repairs. Using a statistical model, the company identified the Vincentric Best Value in America winners by measuring which vehicles had lower than expected ownership costs given their market segment and price. Each vehicle was evaluated in all 50 states plus DC using a range of annual mileage intervals and insurance profiles.
Further information regarding all of the winners of the Vincentric Best Value in America™ awards for the 2012 model year and the Vincentric methodology is available at www.vincentric.com.
ABOUT VINCENTRIC
Vincentric provides data, knowledge, and insight to the automotive industry by identifying and applying the many aspects of automotive value. Vincentric data is used by organizations such as Yahoo! Autos, AOL, Cars.com, Chevrolet, Toyota, Kiplinger.com, Business Fleet Magazine, Volvo, NADA Guides, The AutoChannel.com, BMW and Fleet-Central.com as a means of providing automotive insight to their clientele. Vincentric, LLC is a privately held automotive data compilation and analysis firm headquartered in Bingham Farms, Michigan.
