Honda, Mazda, Tesla among 2016 Best Cars of the Year

The perennial best-selling Honda Accord, the innovative Tesla Model S 70 and the iconic Ford Mustang are among the 10 Best Cars for 2016, according to Car and Driver. And there’s a surprise: Mazda is the only manufacturer with two cars on the list.

The authoritative automotive magazine announced its annual list Nov. 18 on the eve of the Los Angeles Auto Show.

The list features a diverse group of vehicles, all priced between $18,000 and $80,000, the maximum price in the publication’s guidelines.

Eddie Alderman, the publication’s editor-in chief, said

“10 Best involves more than drawing up lists of our sub-$80,000 favorites. Every year we enter our weeklong evaluation looking for new and improved combinations of virtues: value and engagement, performance and poise, sights and sounds, soul and character.

“The cars that earn this reward do more than merely succeed on one or two criteria; they come to us fully formed, polished, complete.”

Here’s what the publication said about the 2016 Honda Accord:

“They’ve all been updated for 2016 with minor styling updates and chassis tweaks. And they are all good, though some are better. A manual transmission worthy of a sports car can be found in our favorite, the four-cylinder, four-door Accord Sport.”

Here’s the list of Car and Driver’s 10 Best Cars of the 2016:

BMW M235i

Cadillac CTS Vsport

Chevrolet Camaro

Ford Mustang GT350/GT350R

Honda Accord

Mazda MX-5 Miata

Mazda 3

Porsche Boxster/Cayman

Tesla Model S 70

Volkswagen Golf/GTI/Golf R

 

The criteria for selection included a base price of less than $80,000 and availability of the 2016 model by January 2016. All vehicles must also have a base price of less than $80,000.

Full details of the list will be printed in January 2016 issue of Car and Driver (available Dec. 1) and online at www.caranddriver.com.