Kelley Blue Book Reveals 2025 Best Buy Award Winners

New Mini-series Podcast Celebrates Best Buy Award Winners, Encourages Importance of Being Your "Best" Self

ATLANTA, Feb. 5, 2025 -- Following a year of expert testing of nearly every new and redesigned vehicle available in the United States, Kelley Blue Book, a Cox Automotive brand, today announces the winners of the 2025 Best Buy Awards. 

The Best Buy Awards is a comprehensive recognition program that spotlights the standout cars, trucks and SUVs Kelley Blue Book recommends to new-car shoppers across a variety of segments. Now in its 11^th year, the program continues to adapt to the dynamic automotive landscape with evolving categories that reflect advances in technology, safety and efficiency, providing buyers with expert advice on the best car for their needs.

In celebration of the 2025 Best Buy Award winners and to embrace the spirit of a new year - a time when many focus on resolutions while seeking the "best" in every aspect of life - Kelley Blue Book is launching a new mini-series podcast, "Life in Drive," hosted by author, entrepreneur, podcast host and media personality Lauren Speed-Hamilton. Lauren continues to build her successful brand and inspire her supporters through lifestyle, beauty, fashion, and mental health, growing her community with authentic and engaging content. She also is passionate about sharing her own personal stories and is committed to giving back and making an impact both in her community and the world.

The podcast will delve into topics such as travel, mental health and finance, offering actionable yet manageable tips and insights for listeners. The mini-series, which will be available exclusively on Kelley Blue Book's Spotify page, will feature three episodes of guests sharing practical advice to help drivers make small yet impactful changes in their daily routines with the following experts:

• Dr. Alfiee Breland-Noble, known professionally as Dr. Alfiee, is a pioneering psychologist, scientist, and founder of The AAKOMA Project, a mental health nonprofit for diverse youth. A Melinda French Gates 2024 World Leader, she leads a $20 million fund to advance the well-being of diverse women and girls globally, is an author, and a media contributor appearing with Lady Gaga, Carson Daly, on GMA3, the Today Show and more.
• Matt Kepnes, also known as Nomadic Matt, is a New York Times best-selling author and founder of one of the world's top travel blogs, with over 1.3 million monthly visitors. Featured in outlets like The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and TIME, he provides expert travel tips, resources, and budgeting advice.
• Erica Sandberg is an award winning consumer finance expert and journalist, with work featured in outlets like US News & World Report, the Wall Street Journal, Bankrate, Newsweek and TIME. She has hosted personal finance television programs, such as KRON-4's Making it in San Francisco, and is the author of Expecting Money: The Essential Financial Pan for New and Growing Families.

"We test each vehicle in the market with the everyday driver in mind, and the Best Buy Award winners ultimately reflect true excellence among today's new cars," said Brian Moody, executive editor at Kelley Blue Book. "The team at Kelley Blue Book is committed to empowering car shoppers with the information they need to make confident purchase decisions and choose the car that best suits their individual needs. Along the same lines, our new podcast mini-series 'Life in Drive' brings a fresh, relatable perspective that encourages listeners to embrace their best selves, both on and off the road."

2025 Kelley Blue Book Best Buy Award Winners

For more information and full coverage of the 2025 Kelley Blue Book Best Buy Awards, including full editorial comments about each model, pricing details, photos and more, visit https://www.kbb.com/awards/best-buy-awards-2025/.

About Kelley Blue Book 
Founded in 1926, Kelley Blue Book, The Trusted Resource®, is the vehicle valuation and information source trusted and relied upon by both consumers and the automotive industry for nearly a century. As the industry standard for generations, Kelley Blue Book provides transparent, objective information and data-driven, innovative tools for consumers, automotive dealers and manufacturers. Kelley Blue Book publishes millions of market-reflective values weekly on its top-rated website KBB.com, from its famous Blue Book® Trade-In Values to the Kelley Blue Book® Price Advisor tool, which offers a range for what consumers reasonably can expect to pay for a vehicle in their area. KBB.com editors rate and review hundreds of new vehicles each year to help consumers understand the Best Cars and Best SUVs to meet their needs. Kelley Blue Book^SM Instant Cash Offer provides a redeemable trade-in offer to transaction-ready consumers and conveniently connects them to local participating dealers. Kelley Blue Book's Service Advisor provides guidance on how much to pay for service and repairs, allowing consumers to schedule service with local dealers on KBB.com. Kelley Blue Book also provides vehicle values to finance and insurance companies as well as governmental agencies. Kelley Blue Book is a Cox Automotive brand.

About Cox Automotive
Cox Automotive is the world's largest automotive services and technology provider. Fueled by the largest breadth of first-party data fed by 2.3 billion online interactions a year, Cox Automotive tailors leading solutions for car shoppers, auto manufacturers, dealers, lenders and fleets. The company has 29,000+ employees on five continents and a portfolio of industry-leading brands that include Autotrader®, Kelley Blue Book®, Manheim®, vAuto®, Dealertrack®, NextGear Capital™, CentralDispatch® and FleetNet America®. Cox Automotive is a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises Inc., a privately owned, Atlanta-based company with $22 billion in annual revenue. Visit coxautoinc.com or connect via @CoxAutomotive on X, CoxAutoInc on Facebook or Cox-Automotive-Inc on LinkedIn.

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