Canadian Black Book, the company that publishes the Canadian automotive industry’s used car value “bible”, announced their 2011 retained value awards recently. These awards recognize the 2007 vehicles in 17 categories that experienced the lowest average depreciation in the first four years of ownership. Black Book indicates in their press release that past performance is not a guarantee of future results, but it is generally a very good guideline.

Last year, Asian brands dominated the winners circle with European brands a distant second. This year, things have tightened up considerably.

Asia, specifically Japan, had 8 winners this year, but was closely followed by Europe with 7. The remaining two winners were from North American brands.

The Toyota group had the most winners with six between the Toyota and Lexus brands. Volkswagen was next with three winners, while the Chrysler group and Volvo both had with two winners.

Here are the winners and runner’s up by category…


Sub-compact

  1. Volkswagen New Beetle
  2. Honda Fit
  3. Toyota Yaris

Compact

  1. Volkswagen City Golf
  2. Volkswagen Rabbit
  3. Toyota Matrix

Mid-size car

  1. Subaru Outback
  2. Kia Rondo
  3. Toyota Camry

Full-size car

  1. Toyota Avalon
  2. Nissan Maxima
  3. Buick Lucerne

Entry luxury car

  1. Volvo C30
  2. Lexus IS Series
  3. Audi A3

Luxury car

  1. Volvo S80
  2. Lexus GS Series
  3. Mercedes-Benz E-Class

Premium luxury car

  1. Lexus LS460
  2. Audi A8/S8
  3. BMW 6 Series

Sports car

  1. Volkswagen GTI
  2. Volkswagen EOS
  3. Mazda MX-5

Premium sports car

  1. Jaguar XK
  2. Porsche 911
  3. Porsche Cayman

Compact SUV

  1. Jeep Wrangler
  2. Honda CR-V
  3. Toyota RAV4

Mid-size SUV

  1. Toyota FJ Cruiser
  2. Mazda CX-9
  3. Toyota 4-Runner

Full-size SUV

  1. Toyota Sequoia
  2. Chevrolet Surburban
  3. Ford Expedition

Luxury SUV

  1. Mercedes-Benz G-Class
  2. Acura MDX
  3. Mercedes-Benz M-Class

Minivan

  1. Honda Odyssey
  2. Toyota Sienna
  3. Hyundai Entourage

Large van

  1. Dodge Sprinter
  2. GMC Savana
  3. Chevrolet Express

Small pick-up

  1. Toyota Tacoma
  2. Ford Explorer Sport Trac
  3. Ford Ranger

Large pick-up

  1. Toyota Tundra
  2. Ford F-150
  3. Lincoln Mark LT