Good Housekeeping Announces Winners of Inaugural Best New Car Awards

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - January 11, 2016) - Good Housekeeping magazine today announced the winners of the first-annual Best New Car Awards for 2016. Created in order to provide consumers with a comprehensive guide to this year's best auto picks, the eight winners best reflect the attributes most important to the magazine's readers. The announcement was made by Jane Francisco, Editor in Chief, Good Housekeeping.

Good Housekeeping worked with Car and Driver, the leading authority on all things automotive, to screen a preliminary list of the top 160 vehicles down to 41 across four categories: Compact, Sedan, Eco and Crossover. Then, the engineers from the Good Housekeeping Institute logged 2,000+ miles on real roads, assessing everything from performance, safety features, and family friendliness, to price, infotainment systems, usability, storage and intuitive design.

"Women control a large percentage of the car purchasing decision in their homes, yet no one can speak to them in a manner like Good Housekeeping can -- backed by the trust, relatability, and expertise of the Good Housekeeping Institute," said Jane Francisco, Editor in Chief, Good Housekeeping. "Combined with Car and Driver's expertise in the auto sphere, our Best New Car Award provides our readers with information to find the perfect car to fit their needs."

The winners of the First-Annual 2016 Best New Car Awards are:

• Compact: 2015 Mazda3 S 5-Door Grand Touring: Swift acceleration gives this car a sporty feel while offering a slew of standout features including a Pandora music service and Bluetooth capabilities; heated side mirrors, rain-sensing windshield wipers, and 24-hour roadside assistance.
• Luxury Compact: 2015 Audi A3 Sedan 2.0T Quattro S Tronic: With a roomy interior and sleek styling, this luxury sedan has superior handling with speed-sensitive steering, while offering a powered panoramic sunroof, infotainment system with Bluetooth connectivity, and dual-zone climate control.
• Sedan: 2016 Chevrolet Malibu Premier: Thanks to loads of tech additions (Apple CarPlay and Android Auto-enabled) and a roomy interior, this clinched the top spot as a family pick for its exclusive Teen Driver system, which allows parents to set limits for young drivers and monitor things like distance driven, speed, stability control and collision alerts.
• Luxury Sedan: 2016 BMW 328i Sedan: The perfect combination of practicality and performance, it's ideal for people who share a car; key memory stores individual preferences for climate, mirror seat, audio and even lighting. Another smart feature? The LATCH (Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children) system with covers that swing open like doors for easy car seat installation.
• Eco: 2016 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid Limited: This hybrid beat out 40 other tested vehicles for best gas mileage. It also offers a quiet, relaxing ride, and contains a hands-free trunk, leather-wrapped heated steering wheel, blind spot detection, lane-departure and forward collision warnings.
• Luxury Eco: 2015 Tesla Model S 70D: The state-of-the-art design (door handles, normally flush, pop out when you approach with the key) and high-tech feel wowed testers. The 17" center touchscreen replaces buttons and knobs for AC and radio controls and comes with a Wi-Fi- and LTE-enabled Web browser. Another perk? 360-degree sonar sensors for crash prevention.
• Crossover: 2016 Ford Edge Titanium FWD: The whole family (and their stuff) will fit in this spacious, ultra-comfortable vehicle, with natural steering and great visibility, SecuriCode keyless keypad and second-row inflatable safety belts.
• Luxury Crossover: 2016 Volvo XC90 AWD Inscription: The best for comfort and trunk space, it easily seats seven, including an integrated child booster seat. Tons of safety, semi-autonomous driving, and infotainment features abound, along with a 9.3" touchscreen, natural voice controls, a four-zone climate system, and more.

The Best New Car Awards recipients were recognized this morning at the Detroit North American International Auto Show, taking place January 11-24, 2016. An in-depth guide to the year's best-in-class picks is available online here and in the February issue of Good Housekeeping, on newsstands January 19.

About Good Housekeeping
Founded in 1885, Good Housekeeping magazine reaches nearly 24 million readers each month, plus another 10+ million online at goodhousekeeping.com. The Good Housekeeping Institute, a state-of-the-art consumer product testing facility launched in 1900 and staffed by engineers and scientists who evaluate thousands of products each year in its six labs, is key to the unrivaled trust that readers and consumers have in the Good Housekeeping brand and the Good Housekeeping Seal. The Seal, introduced in 1909, and the Green Good Housekeeping Seal, created in 2009, are among the most recognized consumer icons and are backed by a limited warranty that provides a replacement or refund for up to $2,000 if a product proves defective within two years of purchase. In addition to its U.S. flagship, Good Housekeeping publishes 10 editions around the world. Hearst Magazines is a unit of Hearst, one of the nation's largest diversified media and information companies. With 21 titles in the U.S., Hearst is the leading publisher of monthly magazines in terms of total paid circulation (AAM 2H 2014), reaching 78 million readers (Spring 2015 MRI gfk) and 54 million site visitors each month (comScore).Follow Good Housekeeping on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest and on the Inside the Institute blog.