Kelley Blue Book's kbb.com Announces Winners of 2007 Best Resale Value Awards

Kelley Blue Book (www.kbb.com), the leading provider of new and used vehicle information, announces the 2007 model year winners of its annual Best Resale Value Awards. Since depreciation (or loss of value) is typically a consumers' biggest expense during the first five years of vehicle ownership, these awards, like all of kbb.com's information services, are designed to help consumers make more informed car-buying decisions.

The following awards recognize automakers' outstanding achievements in design, engineering and production. They are based on projections by Kelley Blue Book's expert staff of market analysts encapsulated in the Kelley Blue Book Residual Value Guide. These prestigious awards honor vehicles expected to maintain the greatest proportion of their retail price after five years of ownership. Low-volume vehicles and vehicles with a Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price of more than $60,000 are excluded from awards consideration.

  2007 BEST RESALE VALUE: BRAND
  Honda and Acura (tie)

  2007 BEST RESALE VALUE: BY VEHICLE CATEGORY
  SEDAN:  Acura TSX                   LUXURY:  BMW 5 Series
  COUPE:  Honda Civic                 PICKUP:  Toyota Tacoma
  CONVERTIBLE:  MINI Cooper           SPORT UTILITY:  Acura MDX
  WAGON:  Volkswagen Passat           VAN / MINIVAN:  Honda Odyssey
  HATCHBACK:  MINI Cooper             HYBRID:  Toyota Prius

  2007 BEST RESALE VALUE: TOP 10 MODELS (in alphabetical order)
  Acura TSX                           Pontiac Solstice
  BMW 5 Series                        Scion tC
  Honda Civic                         Toyota Prius
  Lexus IS                            Volkswagen GTI
  MINI Cooper                         Volkswagen Eos

(All values based on the November/December 2006 Kelley Blue Book® Residual Value Guide).

While most car buyers today consider sticker price one of the most significant numbers when choosing a new vehicle, the editors at Kelley Blue Book's kbb.com recommend that shoppers consider a number they won't find today on any window sticker, its resale value. Depreciation often is the greatest expense incurred by drivers during the first five years of vehicle ownership. An average vehicle will only retain about 35 percent of its original value after a five-year ownership period, meaning that a $20,000 new car today will only be worth somewhere close to $7,000 after five years. Vehicles with average or below-average resale values are generally plentiful in the marketplace and easy to find, such as models often found in rental fleets. But certain vehicles are projected to hold their value better than others. Vehicles that maintain their value best generate consumer enthusiasm. Frequently they are in limited supply and high demand.

Vehicle shoppers can take several factors into consideration when buying a car to determine a vehicle's future value. Certain features available on new cars today will be desirable by a majority of used-car buyers three or five years down the road, and these features will help the vehicle maintain more of its original value. In-market shoppers should consider the following options in their next new vehicle to help better retain its value. First, choose a popular exterior color, such as black, white or silver. Then select equipment that many buyers want. Included on this list are: antilock brakes (ABS), alloy wheels, CD player/CD changer, parking sensors, navigation system, sensing cruise control and leather-covered seats. At the same time, avoid less popular colors and go easy on customization.

"Vehicles that are painted in odd colors and vehicles that have been overly personalized will be desired by a smaller group of people down the road," said Jack R. Nerad, executive editorial director and executive market analyst with Kelley Blue Book's kbb.com. "That will negatively affect their resale value."

While the company's Residual Value Guide has been published since 1981, Kelley Blue Book established its annual Best Resale Value Awards in 2003. Kelley Blue Book's residual values are projections based on current vehicle data, market conditions for each vehicle, competition in segment, expectations of the future economy and the combined experience of Kelley Blue Book's team of market and pricing analysts. Values reflect projected future wholesale pricing for clean, reconditioned vehicles at the end of a five-year lease period. Kelley Blue Book's residual values are used by banks, financial institutions, governmental agencies and the automotive leasing industry.

For more information about Kelley Blue Book's Best Resale Value Awards, please visit www.kbb.com/resaleaward.

About Kelley Blue Book (kbb.com)

Since 1926, Kelley Blue Book, The Trusted Resource®, has provided vehicle buyers and sellers with the new and used vehicle information they need to accomplish their goals with confidence. The company's top-rated Web site, kbb.com, provides the most up-to-date pricing and values, including the New Car Blue Book® Value, which reveals what people actually are paying for new cars. The company also reports vehicle pricing and values via products and services, including software products and the famous Blue Book® Official Guide. Kbb.com is rated the No. 1 automotive information site by Nielsen//NetRatings and the most visited auto site by J.D. Power and Associates eight years in a row. No other medium reaches more in-market vehicle shoppers than kbb.com; nearly one in every three American car buyers performs their research on kbb.com.

SOURCE: Kelley Blue Book

CONTACT: Robyn Eckard, +1-949-268-3049, or mobile, +1-323-547-5102,
reckard@kbb.com, or Ernesto Del Aguila, +1-949-268-3079, or mobile,
+1-562-209-4056, edelaguila@kbb.com, both of Kelley Blue Book

Web site: http://www.kbb.com/
http://www.kbb.com/resaleaward