Vincentric has announced its sixth annual Best Fleet Value in America awards, and Toyota once again led the way. The Japanese automaker led in 10 categories, while General Motors brought home nine awards and Ford took five. Other winning brands were Volvo, Audi, Volkswagen, Nissan and Hyundai.
Toyota has taken or tied for the top spot in five years out of six and garnered the most trophies of any manufacturer since Vincentric launched the program. General Motors continued its strong showing in the truck and van categories.
GM once again swept the full-size (1/2-ton, 3/4-ton and 1-ton) pickup truck awards with the Silverado lineup, while the Chevy Express 1500 won the full-size cargo and passenger van categories. The Chevrolet Avalanche, Cadillac Escalade and Cadillac SRX also took their respective SUT, SUV and crossover categories.
“When organizations evaluate the best vehicles for their fleet, understanding lifecycle costs is a key part of that decision-making process,” said David Wurster, president of Vincentric. “Fleet operators can use the Vincentric award results to fine-tune their selection and be confident that these vehicles provide value to fleet buyers.”
Vincentric uses a comprehensive analysis of fleet lifecycle costs to determine the winners. This year’s study weighed eight cost factors for more than 2,400 vehicle configurations in the 2011 model year, with 20 different mileage and lifecycle timeframe scenarios used in each of the 50 states plus the District of Columbia. The resulting 19 million-plus lifecycle cost measurements were then reviewed to determine the winning vehicles.
The eight factors that determined overall lifecycle costs were depreciation, fuel, insurance, opportunity cost, financing, maintenance, taxes and state fees and repairs. These costs were integrated with the Vincentric Fleet Price, which estimates the acquisition cost for each vehicle in the study.
A review of each winner and further information is available at www.vincentric.com. BF
