2015 Honda Civic, Mazda3, Audi A3 & Acura MDX Are Kelley Blue Book Awards Finalists

The 2015 Honda Civic, Mazda3 and Audi A3 are among some of the finalists in Kelley Blue Book Best Buy Awards, which will honor the top new model year vehicle choices available in the U.S. market. (Full List Below)

"With the all-new Kelley Blue Book Best Buy Awards, we aim to provide a significant consumer service by identifying 2015 model-year vehicles that our expert evaluators believe to be the absolute best-value choices for new-car shoppers," said Jack R. Nerad, executive editorial director and executive market analyst for Kelley Blue Book's KBB.com.

"The Kelley Blue Book Best Buys will represent the highest level of quality and value of all vehicles available in the American market.

While at the conclusion of the testing and evaluation period only 12 prestigious models will be deemed 2015 Kelley Blue Book Best Buy Award winners, it is a very high honor for a vehicle to be chosen as a finalist for these prominent awards."

Along with the launch of the new Best Buy Awards, Kelley Blue Book announces the finalists that now will undergo head-to-head comparison testing and evaluation by KBB.com's editorial team during the next several weeks.

Ultimately the winners in each category and an overall winner will be announced in November.

The Kelley Blue Book Best Buy Awards is an all-new, premier awards program designed to provide a significant service to American new-car buyers by identifying the cream of the crop of all available 2015 model-year vehicles. The finalist models are chosen on a set of criteria that identify overall vehicle quality and value, based both on proprietary Kelley Blue Book metrics and the expert evaluations of the KBB.com editorial staff.

The awards are the culmination of a year-long regimen of expert vehicle evaluation and testing of nearly every new vehicle available in America, along with analysis of a broad swath of vehicle-related data, including vehicle pricing/transaction prices, 5-Year Cost-to-Own data (which includes depreciation, insurance, maintenance, financing, fuel, fees and taxes for new cars), consumer reviews and ratings, and vehicle sales/retail sales information.

Of more than 300 new-car models available for 2015, Kelley Blue Book's expert editors have narrowed the field to a total of 50 Best Buy Award Finalists that include 20 vehicle makes across 12 major vehicle categories.

At the conclusion of the test-evaluation regimen, winners will be named a Kelley Blue Book Best Buy in each of the 12 categories, along with an overall Best Buy of 2015 winner.

"Because there are so many varying needs and wants of car shoppers, we felt it was important to name a very prestigious and limited, yet still very diverse group of Best Buys in different categories that span the majority of segments most popular in the United States," Nerad said.

"As the KBB.com editors engage in testing and evaluation of the Best Buy Award Finalists in the coming weeks, our focus will be on providing a significant service for the vast majority of today's American car shoppers, and we are confident they will benefit from learning what the experts at the trusted Kelley Blue Book think are the best new models for 2015."

2015 Kelley Blue Book Best Buy Awards Finalists

Small Cars
2015 Honda Civic
2015 Honda Fit
2015 Mazda3
2015 Volkswagen Golf

Small SUVs
2015 Honda CR-V
2015 Honda HR-V
2015 Kia Soul
2015 Mazda CX-5
2015 Nissan Rogue

Performance Cars
2015 Chevrolet Camaro
2015 Chevrolet Corvette
2015 Dodge Challenger
2015 Ford Mustang
2015 Porsche Cayman

Midsize Cars
2015 Chrysler 200
2015 Honda Accord
2015 Hyundai Sonata
2015 Nissan Altima
2015 Toyota Camry

Midsize SUVs
2015 Chevrolet Traverse
2015 Ford Explorer
2015 Nissan Pathfinder
2015 Toyota Highlander

Electrics/Hybrids
2015 BMW i3
2015 Chevrolet Volt
2015 Nissan Leaf
2015 Toyota Prius

Full-Size Cars
2015 Buick LaCrosse
2015 Chevrolet Impala
2015 Toyota Avalon

Full-Size SUVs
2015 Chevrolet Tahoe
2015 Ford Expedition
2015 Toyota Sequoia

Trucks
2015 Chevrolet Colorado
2015 Chevrolet Silverado
2015 Ford F-150
2015 Ram 1500
2015 Toyota Tundra

Luxury Cars
2015 Audi A3
2015 BMW 3 Series
2015 Cadillac CTS
2015 Lexus GS
2015 Mercedes-Benz C-Class

Luxury SUVs
2015 Acura MDX
2015 Lexus NX
2015 Lexus RX
2015 Porsche Macan

Minivans
2015 Honda Odyssey
2015 Kia Sedona
2015 Toyota Sienna