• July 6, 2009

Honda and Toyota took the brass ring as the most-researched vehicles in the first half of the year on KBB.com. The Kelley Blue Book Market Intelligence, a ranking of the top 20 most-researched new-vehicles on the shopping and research site said Honda Accord was the most researched vehicle.

Second place went to Honda Civic, followed by Toyota Camry, then Honda CR-V, Toyota's Corolla and Highlander in fifth and sixth place. The firm said Nissan Altima was the 7th most-researched vehicle on its site followed by Toyota's RAV4 and Prius at eighth and ninth and Ford Mustang in tenth place.

Honda had two more vehicles -- the Honda Pilot in 11th place and Odyssey in 13th. Toyota had two more including the Lexus RX350 in 20th place. Ford and Chevy both had two vehicles; Mazda had one, and Volkswagen had one.

The firm says import manufacturers Honda and Toyota frequently dominate the kbb.com most-researched lists, and while they still have a major turnout for the first-half of 2009 (securing 11 of the top 20 spots), this list demonstrates that a few newly redesigned models have captured the attention of consumers.

When compared year-over-year to the most-researched new-vehicles for the first half of 2008, four models are all-new to this year's top 20 list: Chevrolet Camaro, Ford Fusion, Volkswagen Jetta and Lexus RX350.

Kelley Blue Book says Chevrolet's Camaro made the most impressive jump onto this year's list, from No. 427 in June 2008 to No. 16 in June 2009. Primary drivers of increased Camaro research include hefty movie promotions with the "Transformers" films and significant advertising executed in the past year.

The Ford Fusion jumped 43 positions from No. 57 in June 2008 to No. 14 in June 2009 due to the introduction and heavy promotion of Ford's 2010 Fusion and Fusion Hybrid models.

The Mini Cooper saw the largest decline in new-vehicle research in the past year, falling 18 positions from No. 19 in June 2008 to No. 37 in June 2009. --Karl Greenberg