TORONTO -

Canadian Black Book unveiled the 2012 Best Retained Value Awards today and dominating this year’s honors were Japanese brands, particularly Toyota and Lexus.

The awards honor the vehicles across 17 segments that maintain their value the best.

Including the tie between the Honda Accord and Subaru Outback in the midsize car category, 11 of the 18 first-place segment winners were Japanese models, while European brands claimed top honors in four categories. Three categories went to domestics, all of which were Chrysler Group brands.

The Toyota brand, in particular, claimed first place in five segments and earned second-place honors in four categories. It was represented three times in the third-place slot. Lexus took top honors twice and was second place in one category.

“It’s interesting that while new-vehicle sales figures may show Toyota lagging behind North American models, the retained value awards tell another story,” noted Canadian auto analyst Dennis DesRosiers.

“The Toyota Tundra and Tacoma models, for example, have won Best Retained Value in the full-size pickup and small pickup categories for three consecutive years, although we typically think of North America as the top builder of trucks,” he continued.

Larry Shred, president of Canadian Black Book, added: “What catches a shopper’s eye on the Auto Show pedestal, or a journalist’s fancy on the test track, might not translate into a vehicle holding its value over the long haul.”

While domestics may not have claimed all the truck honors and trailed their European and Japanese rivals, that’s not to say the Big 3 didn’t have representation on the list.

Dodge took honors in the sports car segment for the first time, where its Challenger was ranked No. 1, and the brand also won the full-size van category (Sprinter).

Meanwhile, the Jeep Wrangler notched another win in the compact SUV category. Furthermore, the Big 3 claimed second or third place 10 times.

Offering some overall commentary, Canadian Black Book chief executive officer Kathy Ward shared: “While most other industry accolades tend to generate headlines by focusing on the here-and-now of new vehicle models, our annual retained value awards provide consumers with excellent insight as to where they will most likely receive the best value for their money, over time.

“When deciding on a new car or truck, consumers often search for a model offering the best loan rate or the richest incentives that lower the sticker price," she continued. “But not taking vehicle depreciation into consideration, the single greatest cost of vehicle ownership, can lead to a costly surprise at trade-in time.”

The complete list of first-place winners is as follows:

Subcompact: Honda Fit
Compact Car: Volkswagen Golf
Midsize Car: Honda Accord, Subaru Outback (Tie)
Full-size Car: Toyota Avalon
Entry Luxury Car: BMW 1 Series
Luxury Car: Lexus GS Series
Premium Luxury Car: Lexus LS Series
Premium Sports Car: Audi R8
Sports Car: Dodge Challenger

Small Pickup: Toyota Tacoma
Full-size Pickup: Toyota Tundra
Minivan: Honda Odyssey
Full-size Van: Dodge Sprinter
Compact SUV: Jeep Wrangler
Mid-size SUV: Toyota FJ Cruiser
Full-size SUV: Toyota Sequoia
Luxury SUV: BMW X6

In other news from the company, Josh Bailey of Canadian Black Book will be among the many speakers at this year’s Auto Remarketing Canada confererence preseted by CarProof, which is being held April 16-18 at The Fairmont Royal York in Toronto. Canadian Black Book is one of the corporate partners for the event, as well. For more information, visit http://arcanada.autoremarketing.com.