Mazda & Lexus, Most Affordable 2014 Car Brands in USA

The renowned firm Kelley Blue Book (KBB) revealed its annual survey of the most affordable brands and vehicles over a period of five years. This 2014, the Japanese manufacturers, Mazda and Lexus, are the winners of the best brand, and best luxury brand prize, respectively.

General Motors won in eight segments

On the other hand, General Motors achieved with their vehicles, prizes in eight segments, for example, in the subcompact and plug-in category, they won with the gas-powered Chevrolet Spark and the Spark EV. The Chevrolet Camaro SS and the ZL1 received awards for high performance. While the manufacturer Toyota was well represented with five winners divided by its two brands, Toyota with the Corolla, Prius C and Tacoma, and Lexus with the LS and RX models.

To define the winners of the cheapest car to own over a 5 years period, KBB analyzed the depreciation of the vehicle, as well as fuel costs, insurance, financing, repair, maintenance and government fees that are generated when having a new car for more than five years. If you want to know more about this survey, and why KBB chose the cars selected as winners, please check this link.

These vehicles are the winners in each category:

SEGMENT ---> CAR MODEL

• Subcompact ---> Chevrolet Spark
  
• SUV Compact Crossover ---> Jeep Patriot
  
• Compact Car ---> Toyota Corolla
  
• Mid-size Crossover SUV ---> Mitsubishi Outlander
  
• Compact Sports Car ---> Hyundai Veloster Turbo
  
• Full-size Crossover SUV ---> Ford Explorer
  
• Midsize Car ---> Honda Accord
  
• Luxury Compact SUV/Crossover ---> Buick Encore
  
• Full-size Car ---> Chevrolet Impala
  
• Luxury Midsize SUV/Crossover ---> Lincoln MKX
  
• Luxury Entry Car ---> Buick Verano
  
• Luxury Large SUV/Crossover ---> Buick Enclave
  
• Luxury Car ---> Audi A5
  
• Midsize Pickup ---> Toyota Tacoma Regular Cab
  
• Ultraluxury Car ---> Lexus LS
  
• Large Pickup ---> GMC Sierra 1500 Regular Cab
  
• Sports Car ---> Ford Mustang
  
• Passenger Minivan/Van ---> Dodge Grand Caravan Passenger
  
• High Performance Car ---> Chevrolet Camaro SS/ZL1
  
• Hybrid SUV/Crossover ---> Lexus RX
  
• Hybrid Car ---> Toyota Prius C
  
• Plug-In Car ---> Chevrolet Spark EV
  

Mazda? This is a surprise. I'd love to own a Buick Enclave, luxury and elegant SUV with a lot of class.