SANTA BARBARA, Calif.,
Nov. 17, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- ALG, a
subsidiary of DealerTrack Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: TRAK) and the
industry benchmark for residual values and depreciation data, today
announced its 12th Annual Residual Value Awards, with Subaru and
Infiniti taking the awards for top mainstream and luxury brands,
respectively. Japanese models also continued their overall
dominance of the awards, winning 12 of the 19 individual vehicle
segments.
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ALG's Residual Value Awards honor the vehicles in each segment
that are predicted to retain the highest percentage of their MSRP
after a conventional three-year period.
"High residual values are a key indicator of a brand's health
and contribute to driving increased profitability," said Raj
Sundaram, Senior Vice President, Solutions Group and ALG.
"The movements within our 2011 rankings suggest that more
OEMs are committed to improving residuals, and that the awards in
the future will be even more competitive based on the strides the
Korean and domestic manufacturers are making."
This year's awards are based on 2011 model year vehicles, and
winners were chosen after a careful evaluation of vehicle criteria
– including segment competition, historical vehicle performance and
industry trends. The complete list of winners can be found at
https://www.alg.com/ResidualValueAwards.
Subaru of America won the Mainstream Brand Residual Value Award,
edging out runner-up Honda for the second consecutive year.
Three Subaru models also received individual segment awards:
the Legacy (in the Midsize Car category), the Forester (Compact
Utility Vehicle) and the Outback (Midsize Utility Vehicle).
"The sustained high quality of Subaru's products, as well as its
consistent message about the benefits of all-wheel drive, continue
to inspire a remarkable loyalty among its customer base," said Mr.
Sundaram. "This has allowed Subaru to achieve strong sales
growth without relying on heavy discounting or fleet sales, which
is another key to its ranking atop the mainstream brands again this
year."
Infiniti, a division of Nissan North America, Inc., moved up
three spots for 2011 to take top honors among luxury brands
overall. The Infiniti QX56 SUV also won the Luxury Fullsize
Utility category.
"Building upon the foundation of its entry-level G sedan,
Infiniti has introduced exciting new designs for the M and QX and
added technology that is proving very popular with consumers," Mr.
Sundaram said. "The QX56 is a great example, offering a
luxurious interior and numerous cutting-edge features at a price
significantly below its more established competitors."
Honda's Acura division was the runner-up among luxury brands,
and its TL took home the honors in the Near Luxury Car category.
Honda also was the segment winner in two mainstream
categories, for the Fit (Entry Compact Car) and the Odyssey
(MPV).
Toyota and its Lexus luxury division received one segment award
each, for the Toyota Tacoma (Midsize Pickup) and the Lexus LS 460
(Luxury Car). Toyota, which ranked second for four
consecutive years from 2005 to 2008 among mainstream brands,
continued its downward trend and came in at number six this
year.
Hyundai earned its first-ever Residual Value Award for the
Elantra, which won the Compact Car segment, with the company also
registering its best-ever showing in the RVAs with a seventh place
finish among mainstream brands.
Nissan won more than one award for the first time, for the
Maxima (Fullsize Car) and the GT-R (Luxury Sports Car).
The alternate powertrain categories were swept by diesel cars
this year, with the Volkswagen Golf TDI winning the
Hybrid/Alternate Powertrain segment and the Mercedes-Benz E350
BlueTEC taking top honors in the Luxury Hybrid/Alternative
Powertrain segment.
The Ford F-Series Super Duty (Fullsize Pickup) was the only
winner among domestic manufacturers for the second year in a
row.
The remaining segment winners were the MINI Cooper Countryman
(Sporty Car), the BMW X3 (Luxury Compact Utility), the Mazda CX-9
(Fullsize Utility) and the Land Rover Range Rover Sport (Luxury
Midsize Utility).
Summary of 2011 Residual Value Award Winners
Mainstream Brand: Subaru of America
Luxury Brand: Infiniti, a division of Nissan North
America, Inc.
Segment Winners
Sub Compact Car
|
Honda Fit
|
|
Compact Car
|
Hyundai Elantra
|
|
Midsize Car
|
Subaru Legacy
|
|
Fullsize Car
|
Nissan Maxima
|
|
Sporty Car
|
MINI Cooper
Countryman
|
|
Alternative
Powertrain
|
Volkswagen Golf TDI
|
|
MPV
|
Honda Odyssey
|
|
Compact Utility
|
Subaru Forester
|
|
Midsize Utility
|
Subaru Outback
|
|
Fullsize Utility
|
Mazda CX-9
|
|
Midsize Pickup
|
Toyota Tacoma
|
|
Fullsize Pickup
|
Ford F-Series Super
Duty
|
|
Near Luxury Car
|
Acura TL
|
|
Luxury Car
|
Lexus LS 460
|
|
Luxury Sportscar
|
Nissan GT-R
|
|
Luxury Alt-Fuel
|
Mercedes-Benz E 350
BlueTec
|
|
Luxury Compact
Utility
|
BMW X3
|
|
Luxury Midsize
Utility
|
Land Rover Range Rover
Sport
|
|
Luxury Fullsize
Utility
|
Infiniti QX56
|
|
|
|
About ALG (www.alg.com)
Based in Santa Barbara,
California, ALG is a leading provider of data and consulting
services to the automotive industry. ALG publishes the
"Automotive Lease Guide" – the standard for residual value
projections in North America, and
has been forecasting automotive residual values for over 40 years
in both the U.S. and Canadian markets. ALG is a company of
DealerTrack Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: TRAK).
About DealerTrack (www.dealertrack.com)
DealerTrack's intuitive and high-value software solutions
enhance efficiency and profitability for all major segments of the
automotive retail industry, including dealers, lenders, OEMs,
agents and aftermarket providers. Our solution set for
dealers is the industry's most comprehensive. DealerTrack
operates the industry's largest online credit application network,
connecting approximately 17,000 dealers with over 900 lenders.
Our Dealer Management System (DMS) provides dealers with
easy-to-use tools and real-time data access that will streamline
any automotive business. Dealers using DealerTrack AAX get
the inventory management tools and services needed to accelerate
turns and increase profits. Our Sales and F&I solution
enables dealers to streamline the entire sales process while
structuring all types of deals from a single integrated platform.
DealerTrack's Compliance solution helps dealers meet legal
and regulatory requirements and protect their hard-earned assets.
DealerTrack's family of companies also includes data and
consulting services providers ALG and Chrome Systems. For
more information, visit www.dealertrack.com.
Safe Harbor for Forward-Looking and Cautionary
Statements
Statements in this press release regarding ALG's Annual Residual
Value Awards and any conclusions or statements based thereon, and
all other statements in this release other than the recitation of
historical facts are forward-looking statements (as defined in the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995). These
statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other
factors that could cause actual results, performance or
achievements of DealerTrack to be materially different from any
future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by
these forward-looking statements.
Factors that might cause such a difference include brand
perception, the performance of vehicles pricing vs. forecasted
residual values and other risks listed in our reports filed with
the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including our Annual
Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009. These filings can be found on
DealerTrack's website at www.dealertrack.com and the
SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Forward-looking statements
included herein speak only as of the date hereof and DealerTrack
disclaims any obligation to revise or update such statements to
reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect
the occurrence of unanticipated events or circumstances.
TRAK-G
SOURCE ALG