(November 19, 2013) SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — ALG, the industry benchmark for forecasting future automotive  values, announced the winners of its 14th annual Residual Value Awards, with Mercedes-Benz and Honda receiving top honors, for Premium Brand and Mainstream Brand respectively.

ALG’s Residual Value Awards (RVA) also honor vehicles in 24 segments that are forecast to retain the highest percentage of their Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) after a three-year period.

Award recipients are chosen after evaluation of vehicle criteria including segment competition, historical vehicle performance and industry trends. This year’s awards are for 2014 model year vehicles and will be presented to automakers at the Los Angeles Auto Show, which opens later this week.

Toyota walked away with the most hardware, earning eight awards, ranging from the Prius c (Alternative Fuel Vehicle) to the Land Cruiser (Premium Full size Utility Vehicle). Audi and Honda tied for the second-most segment honors, with three each.

“Toyota, Audi and Honda captured the most segment honors due to the consistent high value of all their products,” said Larry Dominique, president of ALG.  “Honda was named top Mainstream Brand due to their prudent use of incentives — $1,000 lower than the mainstream average – and low rental fleet penetration. These factors help maintain vehicle value, which tremendously benefits consumers.”

Among the segment winners, the Mazda3 won the hotly contested compact segment, knocking off the Hyundai Elantra, which had won that category three years in a row, and besting the Honda Civic and redesigned Toyota Corolla.

Seven vehicles were first-time winners in their segments:

    Hyundai Accent (Subcompact Car)
    Mazda Mazda3 (Compact Car)
    Chevrolet Corvette (Premium Sports Car)
    Chevrolet Camaro (Mainstream Sports Car)
    Toyota Avalon (Full size Car)
    Porsche Panamera (Premium Executive)
    Kia Soul (Subcompact Utility Vehicle)

ALG also established five new segments for the 2014 RVAs:

    Midsize Utility 2-Row (Winner: Hyundai Santa Fe Sport)
    Midsize Utility 3-Row (Winner: Toyota Highlander)
    Off-Road Utility (Winner: Toyota FJ Cruiser)
    Premium Midsize Utility 2-Row (Winner: Land Rover Range Rover Sport)
    Premium Midsize Utility 3-Row (Winner: Audi Q7)

“Residual value is critical to automakers and consumers alike because it’s a complete indicator of the vehicle’s value, taking into account quality, durability, brand desirability and other factors,” said Dominique.  “For vehicle owners, residual value forecasts what their return on investment will be, and the Residual Value Awards clearly show which products will best retain their value over the next 36 months.”

ALG’s RVA brand awards introduce a new methodology this year, the Residual Value Brand Index, which ensures that brands with portfolios heavily weighted on low-residual segments, such as larger trucks and SUVs, are not at a disadvantage.

“Trucks historically have lower residual value due to the work and abuse they endure, so manufacturers that have sold a high volume of trucks have been adversely affected in previous brand rankings,” said Eric Lyman, vice president of Content and Partner Development at ALG. “This new index is a better way to equally measure brands against each other, regardless of the segments in which they compete.”

The impact of the new methodology is demonstrated by the uptick in the 2014 residual positioning of the GMC and Toyota brands, while Buick experienced a decline.

The ascension of Mercedes-Benz to the top spot among premium brands snaps a seven-year streak by Japanese manufacturers, while Honda is the highest mainstream brand for the second straight year.

Among Premium vehicles, only Audi received multiple segment awards, winning Premium Full size Car (Audi A6), Premium Midsize Car (Audi A5) and Premium Midsize Utility Vehicle – 3 Row (Audi Q7). The other six Premium segment awards were split among six brands.