Mercedes-Benz, Honda Take Top Brand Honors in ALG’s 14 th Annual Residual Value Awards Eight Toyota vehicles receive segment awards, Chevrolet wins two sporty categories; Awards salute , trucks and SUVs predicted to best hold their value

Media Contacts: Mike Cooperman, ALG (805) 898-8510 or [email protected] Dan Smith, PCGCampbell (424) 903-3654 or [email protected]

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (November 18, 2013) – 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 () to the Land Cruiser (Premium Fullsize Utility Vehicle). 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 , which had won that category three years in a row, and besting the Honda Civic and redesigned .

Seven vehicles were first-time winners in their segments:

• (Subcompact ) • Mazda3 () • Chevrolet Corvette (Premium ) • Chevrolet Camaro (Mainstream Sports Car) • Toyota Avalon (Fullsize Car) • (Premium Executive)

• Soul (Subcompact Utility Vehicle)

ALG also established five new segments for the 2014 RVAs:

• Midsize Utility 2-Row (Winner: Sport) • Midsize Utility 3-Row (Winner: ) • Off-Road Utility (Winner: Toyota FJ Cruiser) • Premium Midsize Utility 2-Row (Winner: Land ) • Premium Midsize Utility 3-Row (Winner: )

“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 Fullsize Car (), 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.

2014 ALG Residual Value Award Recipients

Mainstream Brand Honda

Premium Brand Mercedes -Benz

Subcompact Car Hyundai Accent Compact Car Mazda Mazda3 Midsize Car Honda Accord Fullsize Car Toyota Avalon

Sports Car Chevrolet Camaro Alt -Fuel Vehicle Toyota Prius c Honda Odyssey Subcompact Utility Vehicle Compact Utility Vehicle Honda CR -V Midsize Utility Vehicle – 2 Row Hyundai Santa Fe Sport Midsize Utility Vehicle – 3 Row Toyota Highlander Fullsize Utility Vehicle Toyota Sequoia Off -Road Utility Vehicle Toyota FJ Cruiser Midsize Pickup Toyota Tacoma Fullsize Pickup Toyota Tundra Premium Compact Car Mercedes -Benz CLA -Class Premium Midsize Car Audi A5 Premium Fullsize Car Audi A6 Premium Executive Car Porsche Panamera Premium Sports Car Chevrolet Corvette Premium Compact Utility Vehicle RDX Premium Midsize Utility Vehicle – 2 Row Land Rover Range Rover Sport Premium Midsize Utility Vehicle – 3 Row Audi Q7 Premium Fullsize Utility Vehicle Toyota Land Cruiser

Mainstream Brand Rankings (based on RVA Segmentation ) 1. Honda 5.0 Index Points 2. Toyota 4.7 3. Subaru 4.5 4. Hyundai 3.4 5. Mazda 1.8 6. GMC 1.4 7. Kia 1.2 8. Scion 0.7 9. -0.8 10. Chevrolet -2 11. Dodge -3.4 12. Volkswagen -3.7 13. Ford -3.8 14. Buick -4.3

Luxury Brand Rankings (based on RVA Segmentation ) 1. Mercedes-Benz 2.4 Index Points

2. Acura 1.8 3. Audi 1.7 4. 0.9 5. Lexus 0.7 6. Land Rover 0.4 7. BMW -0.4 8. Cadillac -2 9. Volvo -4 10. Lincoln -7.1

About ALG Headquartered in Santa Barbara, California with an office in Toronto, Ontario, ALG is a leading provider of insights and consulting services to the automotive industry. ALG is the benchmark for residual value projections in North America, publishing residual values for all vehicles in the U.S. and Canada. ALG has been forecasting automotive residual values for nearly 50 years in both the U.S. and Canadian markets. For more information, visit www.alg.com . # # #