Subaru takes top honors in Kelley Blue Book’s resale value rankings
By Andrew, 19 Nov, 2010. 0 Comments
2011 Subaru Impreza WRX STI
In Kelley Blue Book's resale value rankings for the 2011 model year, Subaru received top honors, and edged out Lexus, Toyota and Honda brands. Included also in the top 10 rankings are two domestic truck brands. Kelley expects that the price of the 2011 Subaru cars and trucks will be maintained at an average of 39.0% of their sticker price after a five-year period. This is up 2.4 percentage points from last year for 2010 models. Kelley attributes Subaru’s top ranking to its having successfully aligned production with demand as well as having kept lease levels low and building high-quality, well-designed vehicles.
According to Eric Ibara, director of residual consulting for Kelley, the recall crisis had put Toyota and Lexus in a difficult position but that Toyota’s decline was mostly related to lower predicted resale values for its small, fuel-efficient vehicles.
In the next 3 to 5 years, this segment is expected to be crowded as carmakers strive to comply with the more stringent fuel economy standards. Meanwhile, Lexus is believed to have declined due to its aging products and its HS 250h hybrid car that fell by eight percentage points from 2009 to 34%. Ibara said that Subaru has the Impreza but Toyota and Honda both have a hybrid and a subcompact car. Kelley had come up these resale brand rankings as part of its 2011 residual value analysis. Kelley’s rankings were based on residual values after five years of ownership since this best reflects a new vehicle’s ownership span of a new vehicle.
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