The 2024 Prius takes the top honor as the best new model.
IMAGE: Toyota
Following a year of testing of nearly every new and redesigned vehicle available in the United States, Cox Automotive company Kelley Blue Book announced the winners of its 2024 Best Buy Awards. The 10th annual awards spotlight premier models in vehicle segments most new-car shoppers follow. The categories have evolved over the years to adapt to the dynamic automotive landscape and this year total 14. The highest accolade of Best New Model goes to the 2024 Toyota Prius.
“It’s a new era for car shoppers with remarkable strides being made in automotive technology, efficiency, safety, and design year after year,” said Jason Allan, principal editor of vehicle reviews for Kelley Blue Book. “Since the inception of the Best Buy Awards a decade ago, the industry’s progress is nothing short of astounding. Fast forward to 2024, and the Best New Model, the 2024 Toyota Prius, encapsulates the very essence of automotive innovation, with its focus on efficiency, safety, cutting-edge technology, all in a sophisticated package – setting the benchmark for what defines a Best New Model.”
With features like Traffic Jam Assist in the Best Midsize Car, the 2024 Honda Accord, drivers can navigate the holiday season and its stop-and-go traffic stress-free, while this year’s Best Electric Truck, the 2024 Ford F-150 Lightning, takes convenience to new heights by providing in-bed power, allowing you to cook on the go with a powered-up crockpot en route to your in-laws. These Best Buy Award-winning vehicles are not just about exceptional performance and value. They are also equipped with features designed to make your holidays smoother and cater to the demands of your everyday life.
The awards are based on analysis of vehicle-related data, including pricing, consumer reviews and ratings, five-year cost-to-own information – which includes depreciation, insurance, maintenance, financing, fuel, fees and taxes for new cars – along with consumer reviews and ratings and vehicle sales information. To be considered for the highest accolade, Best New Model, the vehicle must be an all-new or redesigned vehicle – unavailable before the prior year’s final Best Buy Awards testing – and offer strong value to consumers based on pricing, innovation, and available standard technology and safety features.
2024 Kelley Blue Book Best Buy Award Winners
- Best New Model: 2024 Toyota Prius. The Prius is “an automotive Cinderella.” With this all-new generation, it has evolved from smart, practical transportation to become one of the sleekest cars on the road, all while increasing its power and efficiency.
- Best Compact Car: 2024 Honda Civic, which has perfected the compact car formula, explaining how it made our Compact Car Best Buy list nine out of 10 times. Regarding the features, pricing, and dependability small-car buyers demand, the Civic checks all the right boxes. And as small cars go, the Civic is a delight.
- Best Midsize Car: 2024 Honda Accord, a comfortable and refined five-seater that backs up its fun driving manners with excellent practicality, a roomy interior, a huge trunk, outstanding resale value, and a broad variety of trim levels, four of which are super fuel-efficient hybrids.
- Best Subcompact SUV: 2024 Hyundai Kona Bigger, more refined, and a better value than ever before, it offers a stunning number of technology, safety and convenience features for its ultra-low starting price.
- Best Compact SUV: 2024 Honda CR-V, which isn’t just the cream of the crop in compact SUVs but among the most recommendable vehicles, bar none. Fresh off a complete redesign last year, the CR-V combines exceptional practicality, satisfying driving dynamics, and a proven reputation for reliability and resale value.
- Best Midsize SUV: 2024 Kia Telluride – there are several strong contenders in the midsize SUV class ,and we had long conversations exploring all their various virtues. But we couldn’t get away from the obvious and logical conclusion – the Telluride is too good to be toppled. It does everything a midsize SUV has to do, and does it well. Factor in all the features for the price, and the Telluride looks even more attractive.
- Best Full-Size SUV: 2024 Ford Expedition, which boasts refined driving manners, a comfortable ride, and impressive fuel economy for its size – things you wouldn’t expect from a full-size SUV. The Expedition can also tow up to 9,300 pounds and seat up to eight people in its modern, cavernous interior.
- Best Compact Truck: 2024 Ford Maverick Ford didn’t invent the compact pickup; it just reminded everyone how much Americans missed having the option. It provides light-duty pickup goodness in an attractive package with multiple personalities. Its compact size easily slips into parking spaces often too small for a full-size truck, and its lower ride height means loading the bed doesn’t require body-builder-size arms.
- Best Midsize Truck: 2024 Toyota Tacoma – with this all-new generation, Toyota has seamlessly blended refinement, comfort and excellent road manners with tough-truck capability and incredible power. And though the truck is completely new, it still has that familiar Toyota feel.
- Best Full-Size Truck: The 2024 Ford F-150 Ford loads up with technology while electrifying the lineup with a hybrid and fully electric model. Amid this transformation, Ford continues to exceed buyers’ expectations. Whether it’s a basic work truck, an opulent people mover, a capable off-roader, or something in between, Ford offers an F-150 to do the job. There is good reason Kelley Blue Book is naming the 2024 F-150 a Best Buy Award winner among full-size trucks for the 10th consecutive year: Year after year, it sets the bar for capability, fuel economy and technology.
- Best Minivan: 2024 Toyota Sienna – We like the swoopy, stylish exterior of the Sienna, but when it comes to minivans, it’s what’s on the inside that counts. The Toyota Sienna’s interior is an excellent execution of the “living room on wheels” characteristic that families love. The Sienna has three spacious rows of seats, plenty of cargo space, and options like second-row captain’s chairs with built-in ottomans, hands-free power sliding doors, and the Driver Easy Speak intercom system.
- Best Electric Vehicle: 2024 Hyundai Ioniq 5 – It blends technology, practicality and value in an electric vehicle that feels at futuristic yet approachable.
- Best 3-Row Electric Vehicle: The 2024 Kia EV9 is a roomy and practical three-row midsize SUV that’s also boldly styled, enjoyable to drive and 100% electric. The first seven-passenger EV from a mainstream automaker, the thoroughly impressive EV9 is rated for up to 304 miles of range and can absorb almost 150 miles worth of electricity in just 15 minutes. Kia’s latest winner promises to enjoy a good run as the coolest car at the soccer fields.
- Best Electric Truck: 2024 Ford F-150 Lightning – The electric pickup truck segment is still relatively new but growing yearly. The all-electric version of the perennially best-selling Ford F-Series is a great buy for its reasonable pricing, impressive range, and advanced tech features.
For more information and full coverage of the 2024 Kelley Blue Book Best Buy Awards, including full editorial comments about each model, pricing details, photos and more, visit the awards page.
