The finalists for the North American Car and Truck of the Year were announced yesterday at an Automotive Press Association luncheon held in Detroit. They include Four American and two Japanese models – none from Europe or Korea.
Last year, the Hyundai Elantra, from Korea, won the car award, while the Range Rover Evoque, from Korea took the top truck honour.
The three 2013 finalists for North American Car of the Year are the Cadillac ATS, Ford Fusion and Honda Accord.
The Ford C-Max, Mazda CX-5, and Ram 1500 pickup are the North American Truck of the Year finalists.
The finalists were selected from a short list of 11 cars and nine trucks/utility vehicles. Approximately 50 automotive journalists from the U.S. and Canada, representing a variety of different media, comprise the NACOTY jury.
The selection process is different from that used for the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada's (AJAC) Canadian Car of the Year awards, which involves back-to-back testing of competing vehicles and individual ratings of approximately 20 different parameters.
To select the finalists, the NACOTY jurors were allocated 25 points to distribute among the short-listed cars and another 25 points to distribute among the trucks, with no more than 10 points given to a single vehicle. Maximum could be given to no more than one car and one truck and jurors had to use all their points.
They now vote again on the three cars and three trucks, allocating a total of 10 points in each case. The points may all go to a single vehicle or be divided up but all the points must be used.
The stated goal is to select a car and a truck that set new benchmarks in the classes in which they compete. Factors to be considered are said to include value for the dollar, innovation, handling, performance, safety and driver satisfaction.
Winners in both categories will be revealed in a ceremony at the media-day opening of the North American International Auto Show in Detroit on January 14.