U.S. News Announces the 2013 Best Cars for Families

WASHINGTON, March 12, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S. News & World Report today announced the 2013 Best Cars for Families award winners, featured at www.usnews.com/cars-families. Covering 19 categories, the awards highlight the vehicles that provide the best combination of quality, features and space that today's families need.

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The awards, and the U.S. News Best Cars website, are published by U.S. News & World Report, which has a long history of helping Americans make the best choices when it comes to higher education, healthcare, and other important consumer decisions. More than 27 million people researched vehicles on the website in 2012.

"We created the Best Cars for Families awards to make it easier for parents to find cars, SUVs and vans that will help make their lives easier," said Jamie Page Deaton, Managing Editor of U.S. News Best Cars. "With such a broad range of award winners, any family can find the best car for their lifestyle."

2013 BEST CARS FOR FAMILIES

METHODOLOGY

The Best Cars for Families awards combine quality, size and family-friendly features into a composite score. Within each of the 19 categories, the vehicle with the highest score is named the Best Car for Families in that category. Quality is measured using a weighted average of scores from the U.S. News rankings at the time the awards are published. The rankings compare cars on the basis of safety, reliability and a consensus of automotive critics' opinions. Size is based on a vehicle's seating capacity and interior space. For family-friendly features, we factor in the availability of features deemed to be helpful to families by U.S. News editors.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE 2013 AWARDS

• General Motors took home the most awards with six of its models across three of its brands as winners: Chevrolet Suburban, Chevrolet Traverse, Chevrolet Cruze, Buick Verano, Buick Lacrosse and Cadillac Escalade.
• The award winners are mixed between foreign and domestic automakers. Import brands took home nine awards while domestic brands took home ten.
• This year is the first year that Chevrolet, Jeep, Mercedes-Benz, Audi and Lincoln have won Best Car for Families Awards.  
• The Honda CR-V, Honda Odyssey, Lexus RX-350 and Toyota Highlander Hybrid have won Best Car for Families awards for three years running.

ABOUT U.S. NEWS BEST CARS

Since 2007, U.S. News Best Cars, the automotive channel of U.S. News & World Report, has published rankings of the majority of new vehicles sold in America. Each year, U.S. News publishes the Best Cars awards, including Best Cars for the Money and Best Cars for Families.

U.S. News & World Report is a multi-platform publisher of news and analysis, which includes the digital-only U.S. News Weekly magazine, www.usnews.com, and www.rankingsandreviews.com. Focusing on Health, Money, Education, Travel, Cars, and Public Service/Opinion, U.S. News has earned a reputation as the leading provider of service news and information that improves the quality of life of its readers. U.S. News & World Report's signature franchise includes its News You Can Use® brand of journalism and its "Best" series of consumer guides that include rankings of colleges, graduate schools, hospitals, cars, mutual funds, health plans and more.

SOURCE U.S. News & World Report