TORONTO, Ontario — Honda and Acura received awards for top mainstream and premium brands, respectively, at ALG’s fifth annual Canadian Residual Value Awards this week. The awards recognize brands and products that are using good business practices to protect the value of their vehicles.
Honda returned to the top ranking among mainstream brands after a four-year hiatus. Acura ranked highest for the first time over Infiniti, the previous recipient of the premium brand award for the past four years running.
The Toyota family of brands received five segment awards, while Subaru netted three segment awards.
“For all consumers, residual value represents a complete indicator of vehicle value, taking into account quality, durability and brand desirability,” said Larry Dominique, president of ALG.
ALG’s Residual Value Awards honor the vehicles that are forecast to retain the highest percentage of MSRP after a three-year period for luxury brands and a four-year period for mainstream brands.
Award recipients are evaluated by vehicle criteria, including segment competition, historical vehicle performance and industry trends. This year’s awards are based on 2013 model-year vehicles, and awards were given in 22 vehicle segment categories and two brand categories: mainstream and premium.
Among the segment awards, the Cadillac ATS, Infiniti JX and Subaru BRZ are all-new models, each of which took top spots in their respective segments. The ATS marks the first Canadian Residual Value Award for Cadillac and only the second by a domestic automaker.
“The ATS is an indicator that the Cadillac brand is headed in the right direction,” said Geoff Helby, ALG’s Regional Director for Canada. “With a well-executed product and competitive pricing, the Cadillac ATS sets the bar for the brand.”
In two hotly contested segments, the redesigned Honda Accord received the award in the midsize car segment, while the Subaru Impreza received the award in the compact car segment. Among alternative fuel vehicles, the Volkswagen Golf TDI and Audi A3 TDI were repeat winners in the mainstream and premium categories respectively.
Among mainstream brands, Subaru ranked second overall behind Honda, with Mazda rounding out the top three. Infiniti and Lexus ranked second and third, respectively, among the premium brands.
