Who Makes America's Best Cars and Trucks? The Results Are in for the 14th Annual AutoWeek 'America's Best' Survey

DETROIT, July 2 -- AutoWeek has tabulated results of its 14th Annual "America's Best" Survey, conducted entirely online at www.autoweek.com . The survey polls automotive consumers and enables them to voice their opinion on their favorite cars, trucks and sport-utility vehicles.

  America's Best winners include:
  *  Best Luxury Car: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

The S-Class, which took top honors last year, evokes poise, presence, power and panache.

* Best Ultra-Luxury Car: Bentley Arnage

Interesting, isn't it, that the old-school car, the veddy much more mature Bentley Arnage, topped out the category in a three-way shootout between the Maybach and the new Rolls-Royce Phantom.

* Best Sports Car: Porsche 911

The Porsche 911 -- which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year -- emerged as the top pick of AutoWeek subscribers. It actually qualifies as an upset victory, but only by a narrow 0.5 percent margin over Corvette, which won by a relatively comfortable gap last year.

  *  Best Sedan: BMW 3-Series
  *  Best Sport Sedan: BMW M5
  *  Best Coupe: BMW 3-Series

  *  Best Sport Coupe: BMW 3-Series/M3

"Our subscribers have spoken loud and clear," says publisher Rich Ceppos. "They think BMW makes some of the best driver's cars in the world. Only a crazy person would disagree."

* Best People Mover: Honda Odyssey

The People Mover category is as wide and varied as its name suggests, with 48 entries listed. Still, it was a traditional minivan, the Honda Odyssey, that edged them all.

* Best Economy Car: Honda Civic/Hybrid

The Honda Civic offers something for just about everyone. That's why Civics remain the target at which all the other automakers aim, and why it stayed on top of our America's Best Economy Car heap for the third straight year.

* Best SUV/Off-Road Vehicle: Porsche Cayenne

Cayenne beat last year's winner, the Land Rover Range Rover, as well as the BMW X5, the new HUMMER H2 and the Volvo XC90 -- none of which are shabby trucks.

* Best Truck: Ford F-Series

Even though an all-new F-150 is about to hit dealer showrooms, the outgoing model took Best Truck honors. That might be predictable, considering the F-Series is the absolute best-selling vehicle in the United States -- and has been for two decades.

* Best Sport Truck: Ford SVT Lightning

This year we separated sport trucks from standard pickups, which seemed like a good idea considering the number of performance-oriented trucks available these days. Ford's SVT Lightning flat trounced the competition, which is something its makers would likely say happens out on the street, too.

* Best Exotic Sports Car: Ferrari Enzo

Last year Ferrari won this class, too, with the 575M, but it claimed nothing like the margin of victory the new F1-inspired Enzo turned in over the Porsche GT2/GT3 and Turbo combined.

"Clearly, based on the results of this survey, the AutoWeek reader is ahead of the car knowledge curve by a wide margin," said Dutch Mandel, editor and associate publisher. "To see the passion, insight and savvy our reader brings to this survey's answers shows a clarity of real-world car smarts second to none."

The survey results are the basis of a feature story in the July 7 issue of AutoWeek. Results can also be found on www.autoweek.com .

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