Every year, the editors over at Consumer Guide Automotive evaluate hundreds of new vehicles to select those models that are worthy to receive their Best Buy or Recommended award in various vehicle segments. This year, American Suzuki Motor Corporation (ASMC) scored a first when its 2007 Suzuki Grand Vitara garnered the top spot in the compact sport utility segment to be Consumer Guide’s 2007 Best Buy for that segment.

The Grand Vitara bested 20 other compact SUVs evaluated which included models such as the popular Toyota Rav4 and Honda Element, the luxurious Acura RDX and BMW X3 and new models such as the Jeep Compass and Mercury Mariner. In selecting the year’s Best Buy vehicles, Consumer Guides considers a vehicle’s price, features, accommodations and performance during test drives and grades the vehicles on 10 rating categories.

This award caps a stellar year for Suzuki, which has broken its all time sales record, released two exciting new models (XL7 and SX4) and boosted its dealership network. The 2007 Suzuki Grand Vitara played a key role in helping ASMC achieve a 25% sales increase during the first ten months of 2006.

The 2007 Suzuki Grand Vitara offers a standard 185hp, 2.7 liter, V6 24-valve DOHC engine, a refined Four-Mode four wheel drive system, strong unibody construction and a wide range of standard safety features and interior amenities. The 2007 Suzuki Grand Vitara is available in three trim levels: Base, XSport and Luxury. Prices start at an MSRP of $19,379 for the standard five-speed manual transmission and 2-wheel drive, to $24,599 for the luxury package and Four-Mode full-time four-wheel-drive system.