SANTA MONICA, Calif. -

Rolling out a new program to spotlight residual value strength, Edmunds.com shared the winners of its inaugural Best Retained Value Awards on Thursday.

Winning in the non-luxury category is Honda and earning the No. 1 spot among luxury brands was Lexus.

The awards are given to brands and individual brands with the strongest projected residual values following five years of ownership, “expressed as a percentage of their True Market Value.”

Honda was predicted to have an average retained value of 50.4 percent, with Lexus at 48.1 percent. These projections are based on 2011 model-year vehicles.

Looking at the segment categories, Honda and Lexus led the way, as each captured four. The Mini, Ford and Toyota brands were each represented in three segments and Acura took two. Six brands had one segment win a piece.

Officials noted that there were two categories — “Sedan Under $20,000” and “Sedan $30,000-$40,000” — where two vehicles tied for the lead.

“A reliable assessment of a vehicle’s resale value can be a critical piece of information for consumers in the car-buying process,” said Edmunds.com senior analyst Danny Zhou.

“Car shoppers should consider these award winners to help them choose a car with high retained value so they can maximize its worth at trade-in or sale,” he added. “And for consumers who lease, selecting a car with strong resale value is just as important, because resale value is a key factor in determining the monthly lease payment.”

The complete list of segment winners is as follows:

2011 Edmunds.com Best Retained Value Awards

Model-Level Winners

*Sedan Under $20,000: 2011 Honda Civic (51.9 percent)

*Sedan Under $20,000: 2011 Mazda MAZDA3 (51.9 percent)

Sedan $20K-$30K: 2011 Honda Accord (48.2 percent)

*Sedan $30K-$40K: 2011 Acura TL (48 percent)

*Sedan $30K-$40K: 2011 Acura TSX (48 percent)

Sedan Over $40K: 2011 Lexus GS 350 (45.8 percent)

Coupe Under $25,000: 2011 Mini Cooper (54.2 percent)

Coupe $25K-$35K: 2011 Ford Mustang (48.8 percent)

Coupe $35K-$45K: 2011 Infiniti G Coupe (46.6 percent)

Coupe Over $45,000: 2011 Ford Shelby GT500 (48.1 percent)

Convertible Under $35,000: 2011 Mini Cooper (54.4 percent)

Convertible $35K-$45K: 2011 Lexus IS 250 C (48.9 percent)

Convertible Over $45,000: 2011 Chevrolet Corvette (47.3 percent)

SUV Under $25,000: 2011 Honda CR-V (54.4 percent)

SUV $25K-$35K: 2011 Jeep Wrangler (53.5 percent)

SUV $35K-$45K: 2011 Lexus RX 350 (49.6 percent)

SUV Over $45,000: 2011 Lexus GX 460 (47.8 percent)

Wagon Under $25,000: 2011 Scion xB (49.6 percent)

Wagon $25K-$35K: 2011 Mini Cooper Countryman (52.5 percent)

Wagon Over $35,000: 2011 Audi A4 (45.4 percent)

Hybrid: 2011 Toyota Prius (49.7 percent)

Compact Truck: 2011 Toyota Tacoma (57.1 percent)

Large Heavy Duty Truck: 2011 Ford F-350 Super Duty (50.2 percent)

Large Light Duty Truck: 2011 Toyota Tundra (50 percent)

Vans: 2011 Honda Odyssey (49.8 percent)

*Means the vehicles were tied.