LOS ANGELES — ALG, a market intelligence firm, announced the results of its 14th annual Residual Value Awards, with Honda and Acura earning awards for top Mainstream and Premium brands, respectively.
Acura returns to the top ranking among Premium brands after a two-year gap, while Honda ranks highest after a three-year gap. While Acura and Honda claim the top spots, it was the Toyota family of brands that walked away with the most hardware — nine total (six awards for Toyota, two for Lexus and one for Scion).
ALG’s Residual Value Awards honor the vehicles in each segment that are forecast to retain the highest percentage of MSRP after a three-year period. Award recipients were chosen after a careful evaluation of vehicle criteria, including segment competition, historical vehicle performance and industry trends, according to the firm. This year’s awards are based on 2013 model year vehicles.
“Residual value is a complete indicator of vehicle value, taking into account quality, durability and brand desirability,” said Larry Dominique, president of ALG. “The Residual Value Awards measure the most important brand performance metric — the statement consumers make with their wallets when they purchase a vehicle.”
In two of the most hotly contested segments, Midsize and Compact Car, the Honda Accord and Hyundai Elantra ranked highest, respectively. In the Midsize Car segment, the Subaru Legacy was second, and the redesigned Nissan Altima third. In the Compact Car segment, the Scion TC and Mazda3 rounded out the top three.
Among Mainstream brands, Hyundai ranked second overall behind Honda. Scion, which took part in the Residual Value Award rankings for the first time, ranked third. Infiniti and Audi ranked second and third, respectively, among Premium brands. Lexus, last year’s highest ranked brand, is now fourth.
“Hyundai’s ascent as a brand is nothing short of impressive,” said Dominique. “Since 2007, when the brand ranked in the bottom quartile for residual value, Hyundai has delivered well-executed product, and has kept incentives and fleet — two elements that can quickly damage residual value — in check. And, as demonstrated by the redesigned Santa Fe Sport, they continue to deliver.”
Among Premium brands, Lexus took home segment awards for the redesigned GS and LS models (Premium Fullsize Car, Premium Executive Car respectively), while MINI received awards for the Cooper (Premium Compact Car) and Cooper Countryman (Sub Compact Utility Vehicle). In the Alternative Fuel segments, the Toyota Prius c and Mercedes-Benz ML350 BlueTEC received awards.
