Vincentric Lists Best Value Awards

Vincentric’s Best Value in America™ awards were announced, with hybrid vehicles leading the way.

The Toyota Prius, along with the hybrid versions of the Ford Escape, the Honda Civic, and the Toyota Highlander each won the Best Value in America™ award in their segment. Other hybrids receiving Excellent Value ratings are the Mercury Mariner hybrid, the Lexus RX400h, and the Honda Insight.

To determine Vincentric’s Best Value in America™, Vincentric analyzed over 1,800 different vehicle configurations and computed the cost to own and operate each vehicle.

Eight different cost factors were calculated to determine overall Cost of Ownership: depreciation, fuel, insurance, opportunity cost, financing, maintenance, taxes and state fees, and repairs.

Using a statistical model, the company identified the Best Value in America™ by measuring which vehicles have a lower than expected ownership cost given their market segment and price.

The categories and the winners of Vincentric’s Best Value in America™ for the 2006 model year are listed below. In addition, a synopsis of each winner is available at vincentric.com
Winners of Vincentric's Best Value in America™
Vincentric Best Value in America™ - Passenger Cars and Crossovers:
Compact, over $17,000: Honda Civic Hybrid
Compact, under $17,000: Honda Civic(non-hybrid)
Convertible, over $39,000: Chevrolet Corvette
Convertible, under $39,000: Toyota Camry Solara
Large: Toyota Avalon
Luxury: Lexus LS-430
Mid-Size, over $23,000: Honda Accord
Mid-Size, under $23,000: Toyota Prius
Near Luxury: Acura TL
Crossover, over $28,000: Nissan Murano
Crossover, under $28,000: Nissan Murano
Sports Car, over $37,500: Chevrolet Corvette
Sports Car, under $37,500: Acura RSX
Subcompact: Scion xB
Wagon, over $24,500: Volvo V70
Wagon, under $24,500: Toyota Matrix
Vincentric Best Value in America™ - SUVs

Compact SUV, over $22,500: Ford Escape Hybrid
Compact SUV, under $22,500: Honda CR-V
Large SUV, over $40,500: Lexus GX-470
Large SUV, under $40,500: Toyota Sequoia SR5
Mid-Size SUV, over $30,000: Toyota Highlander Hybrid
Mid-Size SUV, under $30,000: Toyota Highlander
Vincentric Best Value in America™ - Pick-Ups

Compact Pickup, 2WD: Toyota Tacoma
Compact Pickup, 4WD: Toyota Tacoma
Full Size Pickup, 2WD: Toyota Tundra
Full Size Pickup, 4WD: Toyota Tundra
Heavy Duty ¾ Ton Pickup, 2WD: Dodge Ram 2500
Heavy Duty ¾ Ton Pickup, 4WD: Dodge Ram 2500
Heavy Duty 1 Ton Pickup, 2WD: Ford F-350
Heavy Duty 1 Ton Pickup, 4WD: Ford F-350
Vincentric Best Value in America™ - Vans

Full Size Passenger Van: Dodge Sprinter Wagon
Minivan, over $27,000: Honda Odyssey
Minivan, under $27,000: Honda Odyssey
ABOUT VINCENTRIC

Vincentric provides data, knowledge, and insight to the automotive industry by identifying and applying the many aspects of automotive value. Using Vinbase™, its comprehensive, proprietary cost-of-ownership database, the company measures and analyzes the overall cost of owning and operating vehicles and its effect on the value provided to buyers.

Vincentric data is used by organizations such as Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, The Auto Channel, Business Fleet Magazine and Fleet-Central.com as a means of providing automotive insight to their clientele.

Source: http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2006/01/17/207569.html