Honorable Mention: Buick Encore

Honorable mention: Buick Enclave

This being the About.com Cars site (as opposed to our SUVs and Crossovers site), I usually limit the cars on this list to, well, cars. But this year there's an SUV that I think is worthy of mention: The Buick Encore. Though it stands tall like an SUV, the Encore isn't much longer or wider than a Honda Fit, which makes it a great choice for crowded cities and crowded parking lots. The innovative 1.4 liter turbo engine strikes a nice balance of power and economy. And the Encore feels like a proper Buick, with a soft, soothing cabin lined with high-grade materials. This is a truly innovative product, the sort of thing I'd expect to come from Japan -- but it's a General Motors product built right here in the United States. If you can ignore the technicality that it's an SUV, the Encore truly is one of the best new cars of 2013.