And the cars that have the highest resale value are?

AUTOMOTIVE LEASE GUIDE (ALG) ANNOUNCES SIXTH ANNUAL RESIDUAL VALUE AWARDS FOR THE TOP SEGMENT LEADERS AND BRAND RESIDUAL VALUE AWARDS

SANTA BARBARA, Calif.- ALG's annual Residual Value Awards honor those vehicles in each automotive segment predicted to retain the highest percentage of their original price. This year's awards are based on 2005 model year vehicles. For the third year, ALG has also included awards for the brand with the highest predicted resale value of all industry and luxury vehicles. The awards are derived after careful study of segment competition, historical vehicle performance and industry trends. Award winners are featured on ALG.com, The Wall Street Journal, Automotive News, and other automotive websites dedicated to bringing the industry's best performing models into the public eye.




For the second consecutive year, American Honda Motor Company, Inc. heads the list with the Honda Brand winning the Industry Brand Residual Value Award. Honda also received two individual segment awards: the Odyssey for the Minivan Segment and the CR-V for the Compact SUV Segment. This is the fourth win for both the Honda Odyssey and CR-V.

BMW of North America, LLC has once again made a strong showing by winning the Luxury Brand Residual Value Award for the second consecutive year. MINI USA, a division of BMW of North America, has won the Compact Car Segment for the MINI Cooper for the third time.

Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc. continued a strong tradition in the Residual Value Awards winning four individual segment awards: the Tacoma for the Compact Truck Segment, Sequoia for the Fullsize SUV Segment, 4Runner for the Midsize SUV Segment, and the Tundra for the Fullsize Truck Segment. This is the fourth consecutive win for the Toyota Tacoma, Tundra and Sequoia; and the second consecutive win for the 4Runner.

Mercedes-Benz USA LLC is the winner of this year's Sports Car Segment for the SLK and the CLK has won the Luxury Segment award for the fourth time.

Nissan North America Inc. has won the Midsize Car Segment award for the Altima. Infiniti, a division of Nissan North America Inc., takes home the Near Luxury Car Segment award for the G35.

And last but not least, the CUV (Crossover Utility Vehicle) award goes to Volvo Cars of North America Inc. for the XC90.

"In an era of heavy incentives and discounts, Residual Value excellence becomes more difficult to achieve," said John Blair, Automotive Lease Guide's Chief Executive Officer. "Both the segment and brand winners clearly demonstrate that quality products combined with effective pricing strategies will rise to the top of the charts." Blair adds that "the gaps have tightened in all award categories showing the importance manufacturers are placing on retained value as a long term objective."

Based in Santa Barbara, California, Automotive Lease Guide is a privately held company that has been forecasting automotive residual values for over 35 years in both the US and Canadian markets.

MercBasher - 12/9/2004 9:33:36 PM

+1 Boost

I note that Autospies excluded the information which summarizes the brand positions - perhaps because these show Mercedes lags Lexus when you take into account all models within a brand.

The ratings for luxury brands, best to worst, are:
BMW
Lexus
Acura
Mercedes Benz
Infiniti
Volvo
Audi
Land Rover
Cadillac
Jaguar
Saab
Lincoln

Congrats to BMW and Lexus

Source: Automotive News reports that "Automotive Lease Guide projects that 2005 model-year luxury models, on average, will retain 49.9 percent of their list price after three years. "

MercBasher - 12/10/2004 7:20:29 AM

+1 Boost

James

after reading your note above - i realize that selecting some statistics (which Autospies did) and not presenting others gives a false picture - please read again my note above Mercedes did not beat Lexus

M-B Bashers for truth

Matthew1 - 12/10/2004 10:20:53 PM

+1 Boost

of nz. If EVERY post you write is about BMW service, please stop. We get the point.

MercBasher - 12/19/2004 8:30:39 PM

+1 Boost

What you will notice if you go looking in the wealthiest neighborhoods in the US is that Lexus is making tremendous headway in these areas. Remember Lexus has far fewer dealers than Mercedes and yet easily outsells Mercedes in the US.

Mercedes sells on brand and product - however the product range is unreliable, uncomfortable and too focused on cars - and the brand is tardished.

It seems to me that only an incredibly loyal Mercedes only or an uneducated new buyer would buy a Mercedes when BMW provides a better driving experience and Lexus a more comfortable ride and better truck offerings.

Autospies hasn't shown the full story and for some reason has not reported on the recent study which show which brands retain their customers best. Lexus buyers are more likely to be repeat buyers than Mercedes suggesting that once people move to Lexus they are not going back to Mercedes, whereas as R12 and I (see below) have demonstrated the same is not typically true for Lexus buyers who switch to Mercedes.

Fact I was a Lexus LS and SC owner who, in 2002, switched to Mercedes (S500 and SL500) and I had so many reliability issues with Mercedes that in 2004 I switched back to Lexus - it will be a long, long time before I trust Mercedes with my money again.

Fortunately we live in a country where folks with money can make their decisions and their are still plenty of buyers for Mercedes, but Mercedes share of the import brand luxury market is declining (while their number of different vehicles in product range has doubled or trebled since the early 1990s) breadth). I think Mercedes is in trouble, and it deserves to be.

elviososa - 12/24/2004 1:28:48 PM

+1 Boost

Well I know some "real rich" people own a Toyota Corolla or a Ford Escort.