The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) is a non-profit organization dedicated to reducing deaths, injuries and property damage that result from accidents on Canadian roads. IIHS has been a leader in finding out what works and doesn't work to prevent motor vehicle crashes from happening in the first place and to minimize injuries in the crashes that do occur.

To determine crashworthiness, IIHS rates vehicles good, acceptable, marginal or poor, based on performance in five tests. To qualify for 2018 Top Safety Pick+, a vehicle must earn an acceptable or good rating in the small overlap front (passenger-side) test and good ratings in the small overlap front (driver-side), moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraints tests. Vehicles must offer, as optional equipment, an autonomous emergency braking system (Subaru EyeSight,^®) and earn an advanced or superior rating for front crash prevention. Vehicle must also offer specific headlights that earn a good headlight rating. For more details, visit www.iihs.org/ratings.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) is a non-profit organization dedicated to reducing deaths, injuries and property damage that result from accidents on Canadian roads. IIHS has been a leader in finding out what works and doesn't work to prevent motor vehicle crashes from happening in the first place and to minimize injuries in the crashes that do occur.

To determine crashworthiness, IIHS rates vehicles good, acceptable, marginal or poor, based on performance in five tests. To qualify for 2018 Top Safety Pick, a vehicle must earn good ratings in the small overlap front (driver-side), moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraints tests. Vehicles must also offer, as optional equipment, an autonomous emergency braking system (Subaru EyeSight^®) and earn an advanced or superior rating for front crash prevention. Vehicle must also offer specific headlights that earn an acceptable or good headlight rating. For more details, visit www.iihs.org/ratings

The Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS) rates models with optional or standard front crash prevention systems as superior, advanced or basic based on the availability of autonomous braking (autobrake) and its effectiveness in 12 mph (19 km/h) and 25 mph (40 km/h) tests. www.iihs.org/ratings.

ALG Canada is an affiliate of ALG Inc and has been the leading provider of automotive residual values and analytical data products in Canada since 1981. ALG is the benchmark for residual values in Canada and its data is used by all facets of the automotive industry for insight into automotive brand health and to determine expected depreciation and monthly lease payments. Canadian residual values are derived after carefully studying segment competition, historical vehicle performance and industry trends, and are based on analysis using only Canada-specific resale and pricing data.

ALG unveiled its inaugural Canadian Residual Value Awards in January of 2009, identifying the top new vehicle makes and models expected to best hold value at lease-end. Each year, the ALG Residual Value Awards recognize the brands that deliver a complete product experience to their customers– exceptional vehicle quality, strong brand desirability and long-term reliability.

Residual value is the ultimate measure of product success - consumers voting not with survey results, but with their wallets. The eighth annual Canadian Residual Value Awards recognize the sum total and overarching value of strong product, effective marketing strategies and powerful marketplace performance. All awards are based on 2017 model year vehicles. www.alg.com/vehicle-awards

Canadian Black Book has been a staple of the automotive industry and a trusted source for used car values for over 50 years. Canadian Black Book makes new and used car values available to consumers by assessing vehicle trade-in value, future value and average asking price.

Canadian Black Book presents the winners of our 2017 “Best Retained Value” Awards. This year we measured 2013 model year vehicles, in 20 categories. The much-desired awards track vehicle values over a four-year period, with our analysts scouring hundreds of thousands of sales transactions and other data points from live auctions, online auctions, dealership and other proprietary sources. Prizes are awarded to those vehicles that hold the highest percentage value of their original MSRP.www.canadianblackbook.com/cbb-awards

To judge contenders for the award, MOTOR TREND's editorial staff conducted an exhaustive three-phase testing process. Phase one includes a full tech check and weigh-in, then full track testing to establish baseline data for acceleration, braking, and handling. Phase two involves three days of road loops offering a range of road surfaces and traffic conditions to evaluate ride and handling, engine and transmission smoothness and responsiveness, wind and road noise, and ergonomics. A dirt-track section tests traction, stability, and braking control systems. In the third phase the judges debate and deliberate.

The judging criteria includes the following categories:

Design Advancement - well-executed exterior and interior styling; innovative vehicle packaging; good selection and use of materials.

Engineering Excellence - total vehicle concept and execution; clever solutions to packaging, manufacturing and dynamics issues; cost-effective tech that benefits the consumer.

Performance of Intended Function - how well the vehicle does the job its planners, designers, and engineers intended it to do.

Efficiency - low fuel consumption and carbon footprint, relative to the vehicle's competitive set.

Safety - a vehicle's ability to help the driver avoid a crash, as well as the secondary safety measures that protect its occupants from harm during a crash.

Value - competitive price and equipment levels, measured against those of vehicles in the same market segment.

The evaluation process for the Canadian Car of the Year Awards (CCOTY) is based on "real-world" back-to-back testing so that the results have relevance for consumers.

In other words, the rigorous testing program includes "real world" driving on public roads – exactly where consumers drive - so that the test, and vote, results are relevant to potential car and truck buyers.

Every member of a test team compares each vehicle in its class, back-to-back, on the same roads, under the same conditions to ensure objective evaluation.

Team members use a detailed rating form, comprising 21 separate evaluation parameters that include acceleration, braking, vehicle dynamics, maneuverability, even off-road capability, where applicable. Each parameter is rated using a prescribed 0 – 10 rating scale.

Every detail, from safety features to cargo capacity, is thoroughly scrutinized, discussed, and individually rated by secret ballot.
Those ballots are then tabulated by the international accounting firm KPMG. The results are kept confidential — even from AJAC — until the awards press conferences wherein the category and overall winners are announced.