10 Most Awarded Cars, Brands of 2017 by Kelley Blue Book's KBB.com

Honda Achieves "The Blue Book Five"

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Jul 26, 2017, 08:27 ET

IRVINE, Calif., July 26, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- With more than 350 new cars to choose from each year, the biggest challenge for consumers lies in sifting through all of them to find the most exceptional vehicle to fulfill their individual wants and needs. To provide shoppers with short lists they can use to start their new-car research with confidence, the editors at Kelley Blue Book www.kbb.com, have named the 10 Most Awarded Cars of 2017 and the 10 Most Awarded Brands of 2017.

Kelley Blue Book's experts sorted through the winners from the brand's 2017 awards programs, to compile these two lists of the vehicles and brands that were recognized most often by Kelley Blue Book this year. KBB.com's major awards programs include the Best Buy Awards, Best Auto Tech Awards, Best Resale Value Awards, 5-Year Cost to Own Awards and Brand Image Awards. In addition, the various accolade car lists created by the KBB.com Editorial staff this year – including the 10 Coolest Cars Under $18,000, Best Family Cars, 10 Most Comfortable Cars Under $30,000 and many more – were also factored into the final tally.

"Kelley Blue Book's awards and accolades are some of the most well-regarded in the industry, primarily because they exist solely to help new-car shoppers make smart purchase decisions and to guide consumers in discovering which car best fits their lifestyle," said Jack R. Nerad, executive editorial director and executive market analyst for Kelley Blue Book's KBB.com. "Our expert editors drive and review nearly every new car on the road each year, so we have an abundance of knowledge that fuels our Top 10 lists and editorial awards, while our analysts evaluate tremendous amounts of data to help determine which vehicles make the cut for Kelley Blue Book's awards. Because of all the data and analysis that goes into them, they are a good place to start your new-car search."

Honda ran the table and achieved "The Blue Book Five" by winning at least one category in each of the site's major awards programs for 2017. Honda's feat is much like the sports and entertainment world's recognition of those who have secured victories in all major events – winning such titles as a tennis Grand Slam, the Triple Crown and the EGOT. This year, Honda vehicles were featured on Kelley Blue Book award and accolade lists more than 30 times. Other noteworthy automakers that topped KBB.com's list of Most Awarded Brands include Chevrolet, Subaru, Ford, and two luxury brands, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche.

KBB.com's 10 Most Awarded Cars of 2017

Rank	Year	Make	Model	Sample Editorial Comments
1	2017	Honda	Accord	The Accord earned the most accolades for 2017, and the variety of other awards it won call out the sedan's strong suits: it's a 5-Year Cost to Own standout, one of the 10 Most Comfortable Cars Under $30,000, and it's one of our Best Family Sedans.
2	2017	Honda	Civic	The Civic has been our Small Car Best Buy winner every year since the award's inception, and repeated as the Overall Best Buy for 2017. It's also lauded for its tech features, as one of the 10 Coolest Cars Under $18,000, and for its status as an appealing family sedan.
3	2017	Jeep	Wrangler	The Wrangler's soft-top and trail-ready nature made it a shoo-in for the 10 Most Fun SUVs as well as one of the 10 Coolest Cars Under $25,000. But it also appeals to the practical side, earning two Best Resale Value awards as well as a spot on the 5-Year Cost to Own Award list.
4	2017	Hyundai	Sonata	The Sonata is a compelling alternative to popular choices like the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry. In 2017, this past Best Buy Award winner earned praise as one of the 10 Best Sedans Under $25,000 and one of the 10 Most Comfortable Cars Under $30,000.
5	2017	Kia	Optima	The sporty, stylish sedan was named one of our 10 Best Sedans Under $25,000 and one of our Best Family Sedans. The Optima's hybrid variants were also recognized, as both the Hybrid and the Plug-in Hybrid were among the best hybrids under $40,000.
6	2017	Toyota	Prius/Prius Prime	Toyota's newest-generation hybrid (Prius) and plug-in hybrid (Prius Prime) have been named as the Best Hybrid and Plug-in Hybrid Cars Under $40,000, and earned 5-Year Cost to Own Awards. The Prius Prime is also a 2017 Best Buy Award winner.
7	2017	Chevrolet	Impala	The Impala is a three-time Best Buy award winner, one of this year's Most Comfortable Cars Under $30,000, one of our Best Family Sedans and offers impressive 5-Year Cost to Own numbers.
8	2017	Kia	Sportage	The Sportage is this year's Small SUV Best Buy for many reasons, including value, practicality, style and an excellent warranty. These aspects of the Sportage also earned it a spot on our 12 Best Family Cars list, and made it one of the 10 Best SUVs Under $25,000.
9	2017	Honda	CR-V	The CR-V is a frequent award-winner and now has even more accolades for its collection, including being chosen as one of KBB's 12 Best Family Cars, one of our 10 Best SUVs Under $25,000 and one of the 10 Best All-Wheel-Drive Vehicles Under $25,000.
10	2017	Subaru	Impreza	This year, the Impreza is one of the 10 Best Sedans Under $25,000, a Best Resale Value Award winner and was named one of the 10 Coolest Cars Under $18,000.

KBB.com's 10 Most Awarded Brands of 2017

Rank	Year	Make
1	2017	Honda
2	2017	Chevrolet
3	2017	Toyota
4	2017	Subaru
5	2017	Kia
6	2017	Mercedes-Benz
7	2017	Hyundai
8	2017	Jeep
9	2017	Porsche
10	2017	Ford

To see KBB.com's full coverage of the 10 Most Awarded perennial Cars of 2017, including editors' comments about each car, vehicle photography, pricing details and full editorial reviews, please visit https://www.kbb.com/car-reviews-and-news/top-10/most-awarded-cars-2017/2100004417/. For full coverage of the 10 Most Awarded Brands of 2017, including editors' comments about each automaker, please visit https://www.kbb.com/car-news/all-the-latest/most-awarded-brands-2017/2100004442/.

To discuss this topic, or any other automotive-related information, with a Kelley Blue Book analyst on-camera via the company's on-site studio, please contact a member of the Public Relations team to schedule an interview.

For more information and news from Kelley Blue Book's KBB.com, visit www.kbb.com/media/, follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/kelleybluebook (or @kelleybluebook), like our page on Facebook at www.facebook.com/kbb, and get updates on Google+ at https://plus.google.com/+kbb.

About Kelley Blue Book (www.kbb.com)
Founded in 1926, Kelley Blue Book, The Trusted Resource®, is the vehicle valuation and information source trusted and relied upon by both consumers and the automotive industry. Each week the company provides the most market-reflective values in the industry on its top-rated website KBB.com, including its famous Blue Book® Trade-In Values and Fair Purchase Price, which reports what others are paying for new and used cars this week. The company also provides vehicle pricing and values through various products and services available to car dealers, auto manufacturers, finance and insurance companies, and governmental agencies. Kelley Blue Book Co., Inc. is a Cox Automotive™ brand.

About Cox Automotive
Cox Automotive Inc. is transforming the way the world buys, sells and owns cars with industry-leading digital marketing, financial, retail and wholesale solutions for consumers, dealers, manufacturers and the overall automotive ecosystem worldwide. Committed to open choice and dedicated to strong partnerships, the Cox Automotive family includes Autotrader^®, Dealer.com^®, Dealertrack^®, Kelley Blue Book^®, Manheim^®, NextGear Capital^®, vAuto^®, Xtime^® and a host of other brands. The global company has 34,000 team members in more than 200 locations and is partner to more than 40,000 auto dealers, as well as most major automobile manufacturers, while engaging U.S. consumer car buyers with the most recognized media brands in the industry. Cox Automotive is a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises Inc., an Atlanta-based company with revenues exceeding $20 billion and approximately 60,000 employees. Cox Enterprises' other major operating subsidiaries include Cox Communications and Cox Media Group. For more information about Cox Automotive, visit www.coxautoinc.com.