ICOTY Picks Best-Of Nominees

[Drew Dowdell]

Link to TheCarConnection

Thirty different cars, trucks, and crossovers, representing more than a dozen different U.S., European and Asian nameplates will vie for honors when the International Car of the Year awards are announced, next month.

Sponsors of the event revealed their list of finalists, Tuesday, an assortment of automobiles chosen by a panel of journalists.

The three finalists for the grand prize, recognizing the International Car of the Year, was dominated, for the first time, by American products, the next-generation Chevrolet Malibu and Cadillac CTS sedans going up against Honda's newly redesigned Honda Accord.

Detroit dominated the list of truck finalists, as well, which pits the new Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid against Chrysler's latest generation of minivans and Mazda's new CX-9 crossover.

ICOTY judges were asked to consider factors such the car buying and ownership experiences, along with the emotional relationship between vehicles and their owner, explained ICOTY's founder, Courtney Caldwell. "It's about how cars reflect our lifestyles and image of self, an attitude most consumers identify with."

The 12th annual ICOTY awards will include eight other categories:

Luxury: Most Respected

Mercedes-Benz S63 AMG, Cadillac CTS, Mercedes-Benz CL63 AMG

Sedan: Most Dependable

Chevrolet Malibu, Subaru Legacy 3.0 Limited, Honda Accord Sedan

Entry Level: Most Spirited

Dodge Caliber SRT4, Volvo C30, Ford Focus

Sports Car: Most Sex Appeal

Infiniti G37 Coupe, BMW 335i Convertible, Audi R8

Pickup Truck: Most Athletic

Toyota Tundra, GMC Sierra Denali, Ford F-250 Super Duty

SUV: Most Resourceful

Land Rover LR2, Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid, Mercedes-Benz ML320 CDI

Minivan/Life Stage: Most Compatible

Chrysler Town & Country, Dodge Caravan

Crossover: Most Versatile

Buick Enclave, Volvo XC70, Nissan Rogue

The ICOTY awards will be presented on January 12, 2008, just before the official opening of the North American International Auto Show. The Detroit auto show will start off with another closely watched and generally better-known award, the North American International Car and Truck of the Year. Finalists for NACTOY will be announced next week.

[Dsuupr]

The Malibu or CTS is bound to win, but I wonder about the truck catagory. As neat as the Hybrid Tahoe is, I don't think that it's enough of a change to win.

[Intrepidation]

I think the Tahoe Hybrid ha a shot at winning. It's a game changer. Not only is it the first large vehicle/SUV to be available with a hybrid system, it features the most advanced hybrid system on the market.

What does the new Tundra do? Nothing new, besides fall apart.

Edited December 5, 2007 by Dodgefan

[siegen]

I think the Tahoe Hybrid ha a shot at winning. it's a game changer.

I hate cliches.

[SuperSport623]

i love how the caravan and town and country are the only vans...

[Diehard GrandPrix Fan]

Out of those list, Volvo C-30 is my only favorite.

[gm4life]

Malibu, CTS, Denali, Tahoe Hybrid and Enclave I all like.

[Hudson]

...explained ICOTY's founder, Courtney Caldwell....

I was never really comfortable with this award. And now that I've learned that Ms Caldwell is behind it, I like it even less.

[Drew Dowdell]

Why?

[RichW5]

In my mind, the proliferation of "COTY" awards diminishes the value of all of them. They are nothing more than a revenue source for the magazine and/or organizations that give them out.

The only chance GM has in these categories is the Enclave, but the fuel economy (global warming, etc) people will vote Nissan Rogue.

Car snobs will pick AMG and Landrover over GM vehicles and Honda will be voted "the most dependable". They will say that the new Malibu has no dependability track record and the previous model was not dependable. Thank you CR.

The Ford F-250 deserves to be there along with the GMC. Ford will win, but Tundra will come in second.

I wish I was wrong, but it's not likely.

[Hudson]

Why?

I've been running into Ms Caldwell for quite a few years. She created a magazine that is aimed at women (originally named "American Woman Motorsport" or something like that); it's a great idea with what I can only imagine to be a very limited market (the magazine has been tweaked a few times and is now a bit more mainstream, but still female oriented).

She strolls through car shows like she's a big deal, and always has. I have a problem with anyone who thinks more of themselves than others think of them. And I especially have a problem with people who don't deserve their own attitude.

There are very well-respected people in the media who you can go right up to and have a full conversation, but there are a handful of people who just exude a "better-than-thou" attitude...like Ms Caldwell.

[balthazar]

I suppose it's wrong to inherantly distrust & dismiss the automotive-related knowledge of a woman based merely on her gender.

This, and I have no idea who Caldwell is.