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Over 300 models evaluated based on U.S. News car rankings, and IntelliChoice.com cost analysis

The U.S. News Best Car for the Money awards recognize 23 vehicles that earn the highest marks for overall value and appeal within their respective categories. To select the award winners, U.S. News has combined its newly released 2010 car rankings with total cost of ownership data provided by IntelliChoice.com.

“While car shoppers are starting to come back to the showrooms, they are looking for a good value more than ever before,” said Jamie Page Deaton, Lead Automotive Editor for U.S. News. “But ‘good value’ does not simply mean ‘cheap’. The Best Car for the Money awards recognize vehicles that can be the most rewarding to own – namely those that win the most praise and offer the most compelling overall value.”

The U.S. News car rankings provide an unbiased comparison of each vehicle to its competitors, helping shoppers identify the best cars in each category. Rankings are based primarily on the balanced, diverse opinions of hundreds of professional auto critics, which are analyzed and scored to create a consensus opinion about each car.

With a 22-year history of providing consumers with reliable information about vehicle costs, IntelliChoice.com measures both the target price that consumers can expect to pay for a vehicle as well as its 5-year total cost of ownership. Combining this data with U.S. News car rankings allows different models to be compared on a very useful metric – overall appeal for the money.

“There is no question that car shoppers are now paying more attention to total ownership costs such as resale value, fuel economy, and other factors,” said Charlie Vogelheim, Executive Editor of IntelliChoice.com. “Taking into account these real world costs as well as U.S. News’s unbiased car rankings, the Best Car for the Money awards identify vehicles that should make any car shopper’s short list.”

The 23 winners of the 2010 Best Car for the Money awards are listed below:

Subcompact Cars Nissan Versa
Compact Cars Hyundai Elantra
Hatchbacks Honda Fit
Midsize Cars Toyota Camry
Family Sedans Ford Taurus
Upscale Compact Cars Volkswagen GTI
Upscale Sedans Hyundai Genesis
Luxury Sedans Acura RL
Hybrid Cars Toyota Prius
Affordable Sports Cars Mazda MX-5 Miata
Luxury Sports Cars Chevrolet Corvette
Compact Crossover/SUVs Honda CR-V
Midsize Crossover/SUVs Toyota Venza
Full Size SUVs Toyota Sequoia
Luxury Compact Crossover/SUVs Infiniti EX
Luxury Midsize Crossover/SUVs Lexus RX 350
Luxury Full Size SUVs Toyota Land Cruiser
Hybrid SUVs Lexus RX Hybrid
Off-Road SUVs Toyota FJ Cruiser
Minivans Honda Odyssey
Wagons Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen
Compact Pickup Trucks Toyota Tacoma
Full Size Pickup Trucks Ford F-150

Source: U.S. News Media Group