CHICAGO, Dec. 10, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Cars.com, the premier online resource for buying and selling new and used cars, today announced nominees for the site's highest honor, the "Best of 2014" award. Nominees for the annual award must achieve the highest in quality, innovation and value.
"Each year we are tasked with the very difficult job of identifying the best of the best," said Patrick Olsen, Cars.com's Editor-in-Chief. "With over 70 new or redesigned cars introduced annually, combined with cars becoming more and more impressive each year, our job continues to get harder. The six nominees for our 'Best of 2014' award represent a variety of car segments and buyers that are all impressive and deserving of recognition."
This year's "Best of 2014" finalists and the reasons for its nomination according to Cars.com editors are (listed alphabetically):
2014 Acura MDX: The MDX is the best example of where Acura excels most: luxury feel at not-quite-luxury prices, with a bit of innovation thrown in. It is the all-around high-level of performance that makes the MDX so appealing to shoppers and so impressive to experts.
2014 Chevrolet Impala: The changes from the previous generation of the Impala are truly astonishing: styling, powertrains, build quality, ride refinement, handling response, materials, fuel economy; you name it, and it's been dramatically improved.
2014 Hyundai Santa Fe: The Santa Fe is one of those few vehicles that blew away nearly every member of the Cars.com editorial staff. With flexible seating for up to seven passengers, high quality features and finishes, and an unbeatable standard warranty, the Santa Fe is a great option for the value-conscious family shopper.
2014 Kia Forte: People buy compact cars because they are affordable and efficient, but that doesn't mean they have to be boring. The Forte breaks the mold with its head-turning styling outside and an interior full of affordable creature comforts.
2014 Mazda3 (hatchback): The redesigned hatchback gets improved cabin quality and plenty of new high-tech features combined with Mazda's signature fun-to-drive personality. All of that is combined with competitive fuel efficiency for the category.
2014 Mazda6: The Mazda6's styling combined with impressive driving ability, comfortable road manners, high cabin quality, and best-in-class fuel economy make this one well-rounded car.
For more information on Cars.com's Best of 2014 award nominees and lifestyle award, visit www.Cars.com/awards. Winners will be announced on January 14, 2014 at the Cars.com Best of 2014 event in Detroit during the North American International Auto Show.
ABOUT CARS.COM
Cars.com is an award-winning online destination for car shoppers that offers information from consumers and experts to help buyers formulate opinions on what to buy, where to buy and how much to pay for a car. Cars.com offers thousands of new and used vehicle listings, consumer reviews, side-by-side comparison tools, photo galleries, videos, unbiased editorial content and many other tools to take the drama out of car shopping. Cars.com puts millions of car buyers in control of their shopping process with the information they need to make confident buying decisions. Launched in June 1998, Cars.com is a division of Classified Ventures LLC, which is owned by leading media companies, including A.H. Belo (NYSE: AHC), Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI), The McClatchy Company (NYSE: MNI), Tribune Company and The Washington Post Company (NYSE: WPO).
SOURCE Cars.com