KBB’s Total Cost of Ownership hands out awards to Kia, Audi

Kelly Blue Book has just released an all new set of awards called the Total Cost of Ownership Awards for current model-year vehicles and brands.

The awards are based on the initial five years of ownership costs, and go to those brands and models with the lowest figures. Costs included are finance and insurance fees, maintenance and repair costs, expected fuel costs, depreciation and state fees.

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Kia and Audi topped the list with the lowest cost of ownership for the brand and luxury brand categories, respectively. Notable wins include Audi, receiving recognition for fuel economy and low depreciation, while Kia got noticed for its improvement in quality. The Chevy Volt managed to beat out the Nissan Leaf in the Electric car category, while the Nissan Versa just edged out the Hyundai Accent and Toyota Yaris for supcompacts. Honda competed against itself in the hybrid category, with the Insight beating the Civic Hybrid and the CR-Z.

All of the category winners are as follows:

2012 TOTAL COST OF OWNERSHIP: BRAND
KIA

2012 TOTAL COST OF OWNERSHIP: LUXURY BRAND
AUDI

2012 TOTAL COST OF OWNERSHIP: BY VEHICLE CATEGORY

SUBCOMPACT CAR:
Nissan Versa

COMPACT CROSSOVER:
Nissan JUKE

COMPACT CAR:
Kia Soul

CROSSOVER:
Hyundai Santa Fe

MID-SIZE CAR:
Hyundai Sonata

LUXURY CROSSOVER:
Lexus RX 350

FULL-SIZE CAR:
Chevrolet Impala

MID-SIZE SPORT UTILITY:
Jeep Wrangler

ENTRY-LEVEL LUXURY CAR:
Volvo C30

FULL-SIZE SPORT UTILITY:
Ford Expedition

LUXURY CAR:
Audi A5

LUXURY SPORT UTILITY:
Audi Q7

HIGH-END LUXURY CAR:
Lexus LS 460

HYBRID UTILITY:
Ford Escape

SPORTS CAR:
Mazda MX-5 Miata

MID-SIZE PICKUP TRUCK:
Toyota Tacoma Regular Cab

HIGH-PERFORMANCE CAR:
Lexus IS F

FULL-SIZE PICKUP TRUCK:
Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Regular Cab

HYBRID CAR:
Honda Insight

MINIVAN:
Mazda MAZDA5

ELECTRIC CAR:
Chevrolet Volt

– By: Alexandra Koken