Toyota, Subaru win big in 2015 residual awards from ALG, Canadian Black Book

Automotive Lease Guide (ALG) and Canadian Black Book (CBB) have announced their 2015 respective vehicle residual value awards for Canada, and Toyota/Lexus has emerged a big winner, taking a combined 17 top spots from the two organizations.

Residual values indicate how well a vehicle retains value as it ages: the higher a vehicle’s residual, the more money it commands on the used market. Both organizations look at residuals for vehicles from past years (this year CBB analyzed data for 2011 models, while ALG look at 2012s) to predict which current models will retain the highest percentage of their MSRP after going home with their first owners.

From ALG, Toyota took top honours for the Avalon (full-size car), Prius C (alt-fuel vehicle), Highlander (mid-size three-row utility vehicle), Sequoia (full-size utility vehicle), 4Runner (off-road utility vehicle), Tacoma (mid-size pickup), and Tundra (full-size pickup). From the upscale Lexus brand, the new NX was named best in the premium compact utility category, alongside the GX for premium three-row mid-size utility vehicle, and the LX, for premium full-size utility vehicle.

Meanwhile, CBB named the Prius number one in its compact car category, Avalon best among full-size cars, and the Lexus CT 200h topped the entry luxury car group. In trucks, CBB named 4Runner as best among mid-size SUVs, and the Sequoia tops in the full-size SUV class.

Subaru got a notable nod from ALG too, earning top honours for its Impreza (compact car), Legacy (mid-size car), BRZ (sports car) and Outback (mid-size two-row utility vehicle). In addition, Subaru was named best mainstream brand, beating out Toyota and Toyota sub-brand Scion, for “continuing to expand its devotee base with compelling designs,” and “subdued fleet sales and customer incentives.” CBB named Subaru’s Outback its top pick in the mid-size car category.

Audi took home a combined four prizes, one from each organization for the A5 (top luxury car from CBB, and best premium mid-size car from ALG); ALG also named the R8 its best premium sports car, and CBB calls the Q5 its top compact luxury SUV.

Honda won four awards from the two organizations: CBB named the Fit tops among sub-compact cars, while ALG called CR-V number one among compact utility vehicles. Both groups agreed that the Odyssey is best among minivans.

Porsche earned three awards from CBB: Panamera as best premium luxury car, Boxster as top premium sports car, and Cayenne as top mid-size luxury SUV.

Ford’s Transit Connect is CBB’s favourite in the compact commercial van group; ALG’s named it top mid-size commercial van, and pegged the larger Transit as best full-size commercial van.

Mercedes-Benz won two CBB awards, for the Sprinter (full-size van) and G-Class (full-size luxury SUV.

Land Rover’s Range Rover Sport tops ALG’s premium two-row mid-size utility vehicle group, and named Land Rover best overall premium brand.

The rest of CBB’s winners include the Dodge Challenger (sports car) and Jeep Wrangler (compact SUV); rounding out ALG’s list are the Kia Soul (subcompact utility vehicle), Mini Cooper (premium compact car), Hyundai Genesis (premium full-size car), and Maserati Quattroporte (premium executive car).