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Looking for a aggressive bend in a boxy market, automakers adulation to amble out the awards their cars and trucks acquire won. But are the prizes legitimate? Some are advancing beneath accretion scrutiny, and it turns out that not all awards are created equal.

The Wall Street Journal reports, “For the accomplished few months, General Motors Co., acquisitive to advance its turnaround efforts, has been active commercials citation the superior awards its cars and trucks acquire won from Consumers Digest. But a afterpiece attending at the magazine, not to be abashed with Consumer Reports, shows what few alfresco the auto industry know: Many car makers acquire banking ties to the publication—and to added groups that adjudicator car superior and value.” Consumers Digest accuse a fee every time automakers acknowledgment its awards in an ad. “GM beneath to say how abundant it paid. Consumers Digest said it about asks $35,000 for the aboriginal accolade and $25,000 for anniversary consecutive award,” according to the Journal. CD’s annual carries a abounding analysis of anniversary winner, but its website publishes a abounding analysis of a car alone if the automaker has paid a licensing fee.

Consumers Digest, for its part, insists that the fees don’t affect the beat analysis process. Editor Rich Dzierwa tells the Journal there is “no burden on the beat agents to accede products, to accede cars because either they acquire been licensees or because there is a achievability that they will be.” But, the Journal notes, CD “recommended hardly added than one out of every four GM models the annual evaluated, up from 17% in 2009. It aswell gave a accede to about bisected the Toyota cars and trucks it reviewed, admitting affairs endure year’s recommendations on eight Toyota models complex in the company’s recalls.”

Not all awards arise with an commercial fee. Motor Trend agent Jocelyn Johnson tells the Detroit Chargeless Press that “the annual does not allegation a licensing fee to accolade winners.” The convenance “might be advised a battle with beat anticipation and evaluation,” Johnson says. Consumer Letters in fact forbids automakers from application its endorsement in advertisements.

Autoblog sees the convenance as unsurprising. “It’s no abstruse that a lot of publications face ascent costs and crumbling revenues, both of which amalgamate to actualize basal curve that would shiver even cash-strapped Chrysler’s timbers,” they comment. “Any advertisement that ranks articles walks a accomplished band amid believability and befitting the lights on. Consumers would do able-bodied to bethink that.”

Our own Best Car for the Money Awards, we should note, arise after a fee. Advertisers are chargeless to acknowledgment our awards, or adduce our reviews, after any compensation.

If you’re in the bazaar for a new car, analysis out the U.S. Account rankings of this year’s best cars as able-bodied as this month’s best car deals.