JIL McINTOSH
Toyota took home the lion’s share of the Vincentric 2020 Best Value in Canada Awards, with its 11 top spots making up almost one-third of all awards in the various vehicle segments.
Subaru took four awards, while Mazda and Chevrolet were awarded three each. Double-award winners were Lincoln, Kia, Audi, and Ford.
The annual awards are given to vehicles in 32 segment categories that have lower-than-expected ownership costs in comparison to their market segment and price, along with five awards for brands overall.
Vincentric said the ownership costs are determined by measuring eight factors in the cost of buying and operating a vehicle — depreciation; fees and taxes; fuel; insurance; maintenance; repairs; and opportunity cost, which is the comparative value of an alternative, such as buying a used vehicle. Each vehicle is evaluated with data from all 10 provinces and Northwest Territories, “using a range of annual kilometre intervals and insurance profiles.”
The company only lists the winners in each category and doesn’t include the runners-up.
Best Brand Value
For brands overall in five categories, Mazda was named for Passenger Car for the fourth time; Lexus for Luxury Car; Subaru for SUV, Crossover, & Van (no doubt an “overall” people-mover category, since Subaru doesn’t offer a van); Lincoln in the Luxury SUV & Crossover category; and Chevrolet for Truck, its second time winning the award.
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Passenger car
Honda’s sole award for 2020 was for the Fit in Subcompact. Mazda took Compact for the Mazda3, and Sports Car with the MX-5, that model’s fifth consecutive win. Subaru won Compact Hatchback for the Impreza, and Mid-Size with the Legacy, which also won last year. Toyota’s Avalon took Large Sedan, while its Corolla Hybrid took the Hybrid category. Kia’s Soul EV was named best Electric/Plug-In Hybrid.
Luxury car
Lexus took three awards: Luxury Coupe with the RC, Mid-Size Sedan with the ES 350, and Hybrid for the ES 300h. Audi took two with its A7 in Large Sedan, and the A3 for Convertible. Other winners were the Mercedes-Benz CLA for Compact; the Volvo V60 for Wagon; BMW i3 for Electric/Plug-In Hybrid; and the Chevrolet Corvette was named for Luxury Sports Car.
SUV, Crossover, and van
Subaru and Toyota took two awards in this category. Subaru took Compact SUV/Crossover with its Crosstrek; and Mid-Size SUV/Crossover with the Outback, its second consecutive win. Toyota won Hybrid SUV/Crossover for the Highlander Hybrid, the seventh time it’s won; and Minivan with the Sienna. Other winners were the Mazda CX-30 for Subcompact SUV/Crossover; Ford’s Expedition for Large SUV/Crossover; and Kia’s Niro EV for Electric/Plug-In Hybrid.
Luxury SUV and Crossover
Lexus and Lincoln split the four prizes in this category. The Lexus UX 200 was named for Compact; and the NX 300h for Hybrid SUV/Crossover, the eighth time it took the title. Lincoln took Mid-Size with the Nautilus, and Large SUV/Crossover with the Navigator.
Truck
Toyota took Small/Midsize for its Tacoma, its ninth consecutive win; while Full-Size Half-Ton went to the Ford F-150. Chevrolet rounded out the Full-Size Three-Quarter-Ton and One-Ton categories with its Silverado 2500 and 3500, respectively.
