Winners of the 2018 AutoWeb Buyer’s Choice Awards Announced

IRVINE, Calif., Jan. 08, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AutoWeb, Inc. (Nasdaq:AUTO), formerly Autobytel, a pioneer and leading provider of digital automotive services connecting in-market car buyers with dealers and OEMs, today announced the winners of the 2018 AutoWeb Buyer’s Choice Awards. These awards are derived from the submitted price quote requests for specific vehicles from the more than 120 million consumers who visited AutoWeb’s network of automotive websites from October 2016 to October 2017 compared to all other vehicles in their competitive sets.  Data for these awards was collected in 17 car shopping sub-categories.

Honda dominated the category awards with five wins for sedan, compact, hatchback, van, and small SUV, and was also named winner for two overall awards - one for the Best Car of the Year, and another for the Best Utility Vehicle of the Year.

Joni Gray, AutoWeb’s chief editor, remarked, “Consumer interest for Honda is the direct result of the manufacturer’s meaningful redesigns on models in nearly every vehicle category. This, along with its reputation for reliability and connectivity, make a compelling car buyer story.  As for Ford’s wins, the Mustang and F-Series continue to capture the hearts and minds of U.S. truck and sports car buyers, as much now as in the past.”

Jeff Coats, president and CEO of AutoWeb, congratulated all of the manufacturers that made this year’s winning list.

“These awards are especially meaningful for automotive manufacturers and dealers alike, given the fact that tens of millions of consumers have spoken and these are the vehicles they are most interested in buying,” said Mr. Coats.  “Congratulations to each of the manufacturers on this list for creating cars that are in the highest demand among today’s car buyers.”

Following are the Overall Awards for the 2018 AutoWeb’s Buyer’s Choice Awards.

Following are AutoWeb’s 2018 Buyer’s Choice Awards category winners.

Following are the number of awards each winning manufacturer garnered in the AutoWeb 2018 Buyer’s Choice Awards.

The AutoWeb Buyer’s Choice Award stands out in significance based on the sheer volume of leads generated across AutoWeb’s network of sites each year. From 2011 to 2016, consumers submitting leads via the AutoWeb network accounted for over 3.3 million new retail sales or 4% of all U.S. Light Vehicle New Retail Sales from 2011 to 2015, and 5% in 2016¹. 

For more information about AutoWeb, visit www.autoweb.com or email learnmore@autoweb.com.

1. AutoWeb (formerly Autobytel) obtains vehicle registration data from a third party provider to estimate sales attributable to consumers who submitted leads through the AutoWeb network. Estimated sales are calculated using matches of vehicle registrations to leads delivered by AutoWeb within 90 days prior to the vehicle registration date.

About AutoWeb

AutoWeb, Inc. provides high-quality consumer leads, clicks and associated marketing services to automotive dealers and manufacturers throughout the United States. The company also provides consumers with robust and original online automotive content to help them make informed car-buying decisions. The company pioneered the automotive Internet in 1995 and has since helped tens of millions of automotive consumers research vehicles, connected thousands of dealers nationwide with motivated car buyers, and has helped every major automaker market its brand online.

CONTACT: AutoWeb Media Relations:
Jennifer Lange
949-460-3408
jenniferl@autobytel.com
or
AutoWeb Investor Relations
Kimberly Boren
Chief Financial Officer
949-862-1396
kimberly.boren@autoweb.com
or
Cody Slach or Sean Mansouri
Liolios Group, Inc.
949-574-3860
AUTO@liolios.com