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25th Anniversary of Car and Driver's 10 Best, Four New Models Named

Imports Rack Up 17 Years of Strong Performance, Win Eight of 10 2007 Awards

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Dec. 4 -- Car and Driver, the world's number one automotive enthusiast magazine, today announced the winners of the 25th annual 10Best cars sold in America. Winners will be featured in the January 2007 issue of Car and Driver, on newsstands December 5, 2006.

The following are the 2007 "10Best" winners (in alphabetical order) and the number of times each has made the list:

  * BMW 3-Series (16)
  * Chevrolet Corvette (13)
  * Chrysler 300 (5)
  * Honda Accord (21)
  * Honda Fit (1)
  * Infiniti G35 Sedan (3)*
  * Mazda MX-5 (8)
  * Mazdaspeed 3 (1)
  * Porsche Boxster/Cayman (8)
  * Volkswagen GTI (2)**

While six vehicles on the list are repeats from last year, four new cars made the list knocking out three nameplates with six years of consecutive wins. So many long-standing vehicles dropping off the list demonstrates intense competition for excellence in the industry. The six returning nameplates are the BMW 3-Series, Chevrolet Corvette, Chrysler 300, Honda Accord, Mazda MX-5 and Porsche Boxster. The Accord, 3-Series and Corvette hold the records for most wins with 21, 16, and 13, respectively.

"The increased competition and introduction of more models has created a tougher contest, but the six repeat winners deserve accolades for continuing to deliver outstanding quality, performance, value and driver satisfaction," said Csaba Csere, editor-in-chief of Car and Driver.

"One of the biggest trends we saw this year is the return of the small car," Csere said. "Of the four new models that made the list, three were small cars - the Honda Fit, the Mazdaspeed 3 and the Volkswagen GTI."

During the 25-year history of the 10Best awards imports have accounted for more than 50 percent of the winners and had especially strong showings from 2000 until 2004 when they accounted for eight of the 10 awards. From 2005 - 2006 domestics accounted for four and three of the spots respectively, but new introductions by Honda and Mazda in 2007 pushed imports to another stand-out performance, again taking eight of the 10 awards.

A panel of 12 Car and Driver editors determined the winners by rating them on a scale of one to 100 with a focus on functional performance, driving satisfaction and value. Vehicles considered for the award must be available in the U.S. by January 2007 and must be priced below the cap of $70,000, or 2.5 times the average transaction price as of summer 2006. In addition, manufacturers must provide a vehicle for testing by Car and Driver staff.

Vehicles that won the previous years' honor are re-nominated if they are still available under the price cap. The judges then identify new or substantially upgraded cars for the current year to get a pool of finalists.

2007 marks the 25th anniversary of the "10Best" at Car and Driver. Over the course of the 25 years of the contest it has grown to become one of the most coveted honors in the industry.

In the quarter of a century, only four nameplates have double-digit wins; they are the Honda Accord, BMW 3-Series, Chevrolet Corvette and Honda Prelude. Since the contest's inception, Honda has won 43 times, Ford models and BMW cars were each named winners 23 times, making them the top three marques. The three manufacturers with the most wins over the 25 years are Honda, Ford and DaimlerChrysler, in that order.

  * Award goes to sedan only since coupe is not yet available
  ** Award is for GTI model only

  About Car and Driver

The world of Car and Driver has been extended over the years beyond its total magazine readership of 9.7 million to offer more content and access to its audience. Car and Driver's web site, http://www.caranddriver.com/ ; Car and Driver Television, a weekly show on Spike TV; Car and Driver Radio, a weekly three hour program with nearly 100 affiliates; Car and Driver Mobile, text service for cell phones; Car and Driver Digital editions; a commemorative book called Car and Driver: Fifty Years at Top Speed (to be available in October) published by Filipacchi Publishing; and a soon-to-be-launched Car and Driver Race Series; in addition to the Truck and Car Buyers Guides and Road Test Annual, collectively make Car and Driver quite worthy of this summer's splashy 50th birthday celebration.

Car and Driver is published by Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. whose enthusiast brands reach over 50 million consumers in the U.S. Other Hachette brands include American Photo, Boating, Cycle World, ELLE, ELLE Decor, ELLEgirl, Flying, Home, Metropolitan Home, Popular Photography & Imaging, Premiere, Road & Track, Shock, Sound & Vision and Woman's Day. In addition to the print magazine, each brand has a digital edition and website. A number of Hachette brands have extensions in television, radio, mobile services and consumer branded events. Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S., Inc., the New York- headquartered subsidiary of Hachette Filipacchi Medias S.A., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lagardere SCA, also includes book and custom publishing, integrated marketing, database and market research, as well as licensing. The Hachette website address is http://www.hfmus.com/ .