Nov 6, 2002

Edmunds Names Most Wanted Vehicles

If you can't find a favorite on this list, you just aren't looking hard enough. Edmunds, which proclaims itself "the Internet's premiere [sic] resource for consumer automotive information," has announced the winners of the fifth annual Editors' Most Wanted vehicle awards. The big winner was the newly minted Nissan 350Z, named the Edmunds Editor's Most Significant Vehicle of the Year.

"The Editors' Most Wanted awards recognize the current model year vehicles the Edmunds editors would choose, for each of 29 vehicle categories, if we were spending our own money," explained Karl Brauer, editor-in-chief of Edmunds. "For this task, our demographically diverse editorial staff is guided by passion, not science, to choose the vehicles we'd love to have in our own driveways."

Edmunds cites winners in 29 exclusive categories. Winners ranged from the Honda Civic in the Coupe Under $15,000 category to the Ferrari 360 Modena in the Exotic category. Among the newcomers to take honors in the balloting were the MINI Cooper, Honda Pilot, Land Rover Range Rover, and Mercedes-Benz E-Class. BMW placed six vehicles on the list; Honda vehicles copped four mentions; Mercedes-Benz placed three.

American models were nearly absent from Edmunds's top choices. The Ford Escape compact SUV, Chevrolet Corvette sports car, Dodge Dakota compact truck, and Chevrolet Silverado/GMC Sierra full-size pickups were the only domestic nameplate models on the 29-category list.

The Most Significant Vehicle of the Year accolade, which went o the Nissan 350Z, is awarded to a vehicle that changes the rules of a given segment, creates a new niche or redefines an automaker's image. According to Edmunds, the Nissan 350Z redefines the price point of the sports car segment, offering an unprecedented 287 horsepower for less than $27,000. In addition, the introduction of the Z punctuates Nissan's revival, putting a finishing touch on the company's competitive, complete model line offering.