The 2017 Honda HR-V is the Best Subcompact SUV for the money, says U.S. News & World Report.
For the better part of the last three years, Japanese automakers have been under assault by their competitors from the U.S., South Korea and Europe for the “best of the best” title.
However, the latest rankings from the U.S. News & World Reports shows that Toyota and Honda may still be king of the hill. In the magazine’s 2017 Best Car for the Money rankings, Toyota and Lexus took five awards while Honda nabbed four.
“Most consumers know to look to Toyota for value and reliability,” says Jamie Page Deaton, managing editor of the U.S. News Best Car rankings.
“However, these wins show that Toyota and Lexus go beyond the basics and impress reviewers with the performance, comfort and connectivity of their products, while also providing compelling pricing and ownership costs versus the competition.”
(Toyota, Suzuki teaming up. Click Here to find out why.)
Despite the fact the “kings” weren’t dethroned, some makers did get some good news in this year’s listing. Kia earned its first awards in five years as the Sorento was named Best 3-Row SUV for the Money, while the Kia Soul won Best Compact Car for the Money.
The Kia Sorento nabbed top honors for 2-Row SUVs for 2017.
“Kia models tend to have lower starting prices and more standard features than the competition,” said Page Deaton. “What may surprise car shoppers, however, is that they also provide high levels of comfort and refinement.”
The Chevrolet Colorado, Chevrolet Impala, Nissan Murano and Acura MDX continue to be solid choices for consumers, winning their respective categories for three or more years in a row.
Even the oft-maligned Fiat Chrysler earned a few nods with the Chrysler Pacifica, the Best Minivan for the Money, and Fiat 124 Spider, the Best Sports Car for the Money, winning honors for the first time. It marked the first year that any Chrysler or Fiat model has won a Best Car for the Money award.
(Click Here to see the finalists for this year’s World Car Awards.)
Other winners include the Hyundai Sonata for Midsize Car, Honda HR-V for Subcompcat SUV and Ford F-150 for Full-size Trucks. The rest include:
- Chevrolet Impala (Large car)
- Toyota Prius (Hybrid card)
- Lexus ES (Luxury midsize car)
- Audi A4 (Luxury small car)
- Honda Fit (Subcompact car)
- Honda CR-V (Compact SUV)
- Toyota RAV-4 Hybrid (Compact SUV hybrid)
- Ford Expedition (Large SUV)
- Lexus RX 350 (Luxury 2-Row SUV)
- Acura MDX (Luxury 3-Row SUV)
- Lexus NX (Luxury compact SUV)
Several of this year’s winners have won in the past: the Chevrolet Colorado, the Best Compact Truck for the Money; Chevrolet Impala, the Best Large Car for the Money; the Nissan Murano, the Best 2-Row SUV for the Money; and Acrua MDX, the Best Luxury 3-Row SUV for the Money, have won each of their respective categories for three or more consecutive years.
The fact that these models have hung on to their awards despite newer models being introduced in their classes indicates that they have the features and performance consumers want, as well as prices and ownership costs that won’t crimp your budget.
(To see more about Ford shipping F-150 Raptors to China, Click Here.)
The Best Cars for the Money methodology combines quality and value data into a composite score. Within each of the 20 categories, the vehicle with the highest score is named the Best Car for the Money in that category.