SANTA BARBARA, CA – Automotive Lease Guide’s (ALG) annual Residual Value Awards honor those vehicles in each automotive segment predicted to retain the highest percentage of their original price. This year’s awards are based on 2006-model year vehicles. For the fourth year, ALG has also included awards for the brand with the highest predicted resale value of all industry and luxury vehicles. The awards are derived after careful study of segment competition, historical vehicle performance, and industry trends. Award winners are featured on www.ALG.com, The Wall Street Journal, Automotive News, and other automotive Web sites.

For the third consecutive year, American Honda Motor Company, Inc. heads the list with the Honda Brand winning the Industry Brand Residual Value Award. Honda also received two individual segment awards: the Odyssey for the Minivan Segment and the Accord for the Midsize Car Segment. This is the fifth consecutive win for the Honda Odyssey and the second win for the Accord. Acura, a division of American Honda Motor Company, Inc., is the winner of the Near Luxury Car Segment for the TL.

BMW of North America, LLC has once again made a strong showing by winning the Luxury Brand Residual Value Award for the third consecutive year. MINI USA, a division of BMW of North America, has won the Compact Car Segment for the MINI Cooper for the fourth time.

Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc. took home the most Residual Value Awards this year by winning six individual segment awards: the Avalon for the Full-Size Car Segment, Tacoma Pick-up for the Compact Truck Segment, Tundra for the Full-Size Truck Segment, RAV4 for the Compact SUV Segment, 4Runner for the Midsize SUV Segment, and the Sequoia for the Fullsize SUV Segment. This is the fifth consecutive win for the Toyota Tacoma, Tundra, and Sequoia; and the third consecutive win for the 4Runner.

Mercedes-Benz USA LLC is the winner of this year’s Luxury Car Segment award for the CLS Class.

The Sports Car Segment award this year goes to Porsche Cars North America, Inc. for the 911 Carrera.

And last but not least, the CUV (Crossover Utility Vehicle) award goes to Land Rover North America, Inc. for the Range Rover Sport.

“In an era of negative pricing and overcapacity, Residual Value excellence is increasingly difficult to achieve,” said Raj Sundaram, ALG’s president. “Both the segment and brand winners clearly demonstrate that quality products combined with effective pricing strategies will rise to the top. While the top rankings did not change, several brands have shown significant improvement over last year highlighting the importance manufacturers are placing on residual value as a long-term objective.”