Finalists for North American Car and Truck of the Year Announced
By Michelle Krebs December 16, 2009The Ford Fusion Hybrid, Buick LaCrosse and Volkswagen Golf are finalists for the 2010 North American Car of the Year awards. 
Finalists for the 2010 North American Truck of the year are the Subaru Outback, Chevrolet Equinox and Ford Transit Connect.
The half-dozen finalists for the prestigious awards were announced Wednesday at an Automotive Press Association luncheon sponsored by organizers of the Detroit auto show, where the winners will be announced in January.
Established in 1994, the NACTOY awards honor vehicles that set new standards or become new benchmarks in their class. Each vehicle is judged and ranked by various categories. Those include general design, safety, fuel economy, handling and general roadworthiness, performance, comfort, assembly quality, functionality, technical innovation, driver satisfaction and price. Value for the dollar and affordability are particularly important factors.
The jury of 49 comprises a wide range of professional journalists across North America who report on cars and the auto industry for various media outlets. The journalists created their own organization to independently determine the best new products automakers offer each year.
Among those 49 jurors from Edmunds.com are: Michelle Krebs, senior analyst and editor at large for AutoObserver; Karl Brauer, Edmunds.com editor in chief; and Scott Oldham, editor in chief of Edmunds' Inside Line. Earlier this fall, journalist-jurors winnowed a very long list of new models introduced in 2009 to a shorter list of candidates.
Candidates for car of the year honors were: BMW 335d; Buick LaCrosse; Cadillac CTS Sport Wagon; Chevrolet Camaro; Ford Fusion; Ford Fusion Hybrid; Ford Taurus/Taurus SHO; Honda Insight; Kia Soul; Mazda3/MazdaSpeed 3; Mercedes-Benz E-Class; Porsche Panamera; Subaru Legacy; Suzuki Kizashi; Toyota Prius; and Volkswagen Golf/GTI/TDI.
Candidates for truck of the year honors were: Acura ZDX; Audi Q5; Cadillac SRX; Chevrolet Equinox; Ford Transit Connect; Honda CrossTour; Land Rover LR4; Lincoln MKT; Subaru Outback; Volvo XC60.
AutoObserver's Krebs will appear on an upcoming edition of AutoLine Detroit, hosted by fellow juror John McElroy, discussing the candidates for truck of the year.
In the second round of voting, journalist-jurors dispersed 25 points to the various candidates in the two categories. Jurors can give a maximum of 10 points to one vehicle, but no other vehicle could receive more than nine of those points.
In the upcoming round three of voting, jurors will disperse 10 points to the three finalists in each category.
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Click here to comment on this entry.There ought to be a Mexican flag in the North American Truck Of The Year banner. Mexico is, after all, part of North America.
Although they didn't produce a candidate for this year's Truck Award,
the Dodge Journey is made there (Chrysler lists it as a truck). On the car side, Ford Fusion Hybrid, (and siblings Mercury Milan & Hybrid and Lincoln MKZ)is a finalist, is assembled in Mexico. Interestingly, none of the finalists is made in the USA.
The VW New Beetle, Chevrolet Aveo, HHR, Avalanche, Cadillac Escalade EXT, Nissan Versa? Hecho en Mexico. Plus all of the other vehicles that we don't import.
As a matter of fact, so far this year Mexico has produced more vehicles than Canada, eh.
CORRECTION:
The Subaru Outback is indeed made in the USA-along with the Legacy, Tribecca and Toyota Camry, in Lafayette, Indiana. I apologize. Go Colts!
ADDENDUM:
Go Boilermakers!
Is it the VW Golf 2.5, TDI, GTI, or all 3?
Fulcrumb - a car does not need to be made in the US to be considered for Car or Truck of the year. The Golf is not. Just like European car of the year doesn`t have ot be from a European company or European built.
Interesting to see plenty of domestic entries (both Ford and GM) and none from the old powerhouses of Honda and Toyota. How times change!
guy1974,
My point was the fact that the Outback is the only candidate that IS made in the USA. The Fusion Hybrid and golf being made in Mexico. What I found ironic and somewhat disheartening was that except for the Outback, none of the entries, car or truck, is made in North America's center country, the USA.
Isn't the Ford Taurus built in Chicago?
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