Finalists for the North American Car and Truck Awards Announced
Finalists for the 16th Annual North American Car and Truck of the Year awards were announced at a news conference on Thursday. The winners are chosen by fifty automotive journalists from the United States and Canada who represent magazines, television, radio, newspapers and web sites.
The winners will be announced on January 11th at the North American International Auto Show, held in Dertoit, Michigan.
Among the fifty journalists and writers who cast their ballots this year were Karl Brauer (Edmunds.com), Matt DeLorenzo (Road & Track), Anita Lienert (Global Auto Systems), Dale Jewett (AutoWeek), Tony Swan (Car and Driver), Jim Mateja (The Chicago Tribune), Csaba Csere (Car and Driver), John McElroy (Autoline Detroit) and Natalie Neff (AutoWeek).
To be eligible, vehicles must be “all-new” or “substantially changed” from the previous model. This year, over fifty vehicles were considered, but only fourteen cars and eleven trucks made the short list. The awards are designed to recognize the most outstanding vehicles of the year based on various factors, including safety, innovation, design, driver satisfaction and value.
Last year, accolades went to the Chevrolet Malibu and the Mazda CX-9.
The North American Car of the Year and North American Truck of the Year awards were first given in 1994. The goal of the awards is specifically to select a car and truck which set the bar and benchmark within the classes they compete and both domestic and imported vehicles compete against each other.
Eligibility is determined by substantial changes made from the previous model and vehicles must be made available for purchase in January, soon after the announcement of the award is made. Cars must have foreseeable annual sales in North America of 5,000 vehicles, while trucks must have a foreseeable annual sale in North America of 2,000 vehicles.
Here are the 2009 North American Car of the Year and 2009 North American Truck of the Year nominees:
• Audi A4
• BMW 1 Series
• Cadillac CTS-V
• Dodge Challenger
• Ford Flex
• Honda Fit
• Hyundai Genesis
• Jaguar XF
• Lincoln MKS
• Mazda 6
• Nissan GT-R
• Pontiac G8
• Toyota Venza
• Volkswagen Jetta TDI
• BMW X6
• Chevrolet Traverse
• Dodge Ram
• Ford F-150
• Honda Pilot
• Infiniti FX35/50
• Kia Borrego
• Mercedes-Benz ML320 BlueTEC
• Nissan Murano
• Subaru Forester
• Volkswagen Tiguan
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[...] in December, I wrote about the nominees for the North American Car of the Year Awards, chosen by a 50 panel jury consisting of automotive journalists from the United States and Canada. [...]