BINGHAM FARMS, Mich. -

 The new year is here, but for many people, COVID-19 continues to have an economic impact, said David Wurster, president of data company, Vincentric.

“It's more important than ever to make informed and intelligent financial decisions,” Wurster said in a news release.

To help consumers do that, Vincentric named the winners of its 17th annual Vincentric Best Value in America Awards.

If consumers looking to make informed decisions used these awards to choose a vehicle, they would most likely pick a Toyota, Honda or Volvo.

Toyota Motor Corp. won 12 model-level awards and three brand-level awards between the Toyota and Lexus brands. Honda, with Best Value Passenger Car brand, was another brand-level winner, along with Volvo for Best Value Luxury SUV & Crossover brand.

For the passenger car category, Honda outperformed 14 other brands to win.

Honda and Volvo won their respective brand-level awards for the third time.

Toyota was victorious in the categories of  Best Value SUV, Crossover, & Van brand, and the Best Value Truck brand.

Vincentric said the Tacoma was Toyota's top contributing model. The Tacoma is the only vehicle to win its segment consecutively for all 17 years that the Vincentric Best Value in America Awards have been conducted.

Lexus won the category of Best Value Luxury Car brand. Its ES sedan led the way, winning the Luxury Mid-Size Sedan segment for the sixth time.

Civic and Odyssey led the way for Honda, with those vehicles winning in their segments for the 10th and 11th time, respectively.

Volvo’s XC90 took the prize for the third time in the Luxury Mid-Size SUV/Crossover segment. And for the fourth time, Volvo’s XC90 Plug-In Hybrid won the Luxury Hybrid SUV/Crossover segment.

For the awards, Vincentric measures cost-of-ownership using eight different cost factors: depreciation, fees and taxes, financing, fuel, insurance, maintenance, opportunity cost, and repairs.

Vincentric uses a statistical model, identifying the Best Value in America winners by measuring which vehicles had lower than expected ownership costs given their market segment and price.

Using a range of annual mileage intervals and insurance profiles, the company evaluated more than 3,000 vehicle configurations in all 50 states plus Washington D.C.

Aside from Toyota, Honda, and Volvo, other models gained some of the spotlight as well in the Vincentric Best Value in America Awards. Several were repeat winners in their segments. One was the Audi A7, which won the Luxury Large Sedan segment for the fifth time.

Another was the GMC Sierra 3500, which won the Full-Size 1-Ton Pickup segment for the fourth time. And the Mazda MX-5 Miata and Hyundai Accent won their segments for the third time.

Cadillac and GMC were multiple model-level winners with two awards apiece. Audi, BMW, Dodge, Hyundai, Infiniti, Kia, Mazda, Porsche, Subaru, and Tesla were brands with one model-level winner.

“The Vincentric Best Value in America Awards use a data-driven analysis designed to give financial insight to consumers who are planning the purchase of a new vehicle,” Wurster said.