Industry News: Here Are The Finalists For North American Car & Truck Of The Year

[William Maley]

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William Maley

Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com

December 11, 2013

With the 2014 Detroit Auto Show just a month away, the finalists for the 2014 North American Car and Truck of Year were announced. General Motors dominated the finalists with two models in the car category (Cadillac CTS and Chevrolet Corvette) and one model in the truck/utility category (Chevrolet Silverado).

Mazda takes the last spot in the cars with the new 3. In the truck/utility category, the Acura MDX and Jeep Cherokee join alongside the Silverado.

The winners will be announced on January 13th at the Detroit Auto Show

Source: NACOTY

William Maley is a staff writer for Cheers & Gears. He can be reached at [email protected]or you can follow him on twitter at @realmudmonster.

Press Release is on Page 2

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DETROIT – General Motor dominated the finalists for the 2014 North American Car of the Year, taking two of the three spots. It also took one of the three spots for 2014 North American Truck/Utility of the Year.

Forty-eight automotive journalists from the United States and Canada voted the Cadillac CTS, Chevrolet Corvette Stingray and Mazda3 finalists for the 2014 North American Car of the Year.

The journalists voted the Acura MDX, Chevrolet Silverado and Jeep Cherokee the finalists for the 2014 North American Truck/Utility of the Year.

The awards – first given in 1994 - are unique in North America because - instead of being given by a single publication, web site, radio or television program - they are given by automotive journalists representing all of those outlets in two countries.

The awards recognize the most outstanding vehicles of the year based on factors including innovation, design, safety, handling, driver satisfaction and value for the dollar.

To be eligible, vehicles must be "all new" or "substantially changed."

Early in December jurors sent their ballots to Deloitte & Touche. The accounting firm kept the finalists secret until today.

At a news conference at the Automotive Press Association luncheon in Detroit Diane DeFrancis, a partner at Deloitte, handed two sealed envelopes over to Joann Muller, one of the NACTOY judges and the Detroit Bureau Chief of Forbes Media, who made the announcements.

Now there will be a second round of voting on the three car and three truck/utility finalists. Those ballots also go to Deloitte officials, who will keep the winners secret until a news conference on Monday, January 13th at the North American International Auto Show.

The list of eligible vehicles originally included 28 cars and 18 truck/utilities. In September the jurors voted to focus on 12 cars and 12 truck/utilities and those vehicles were on the ballot.

They were:

North American Car of the Year

BMW 4 Series

Cadillac CTSChevrolet Corvette Stingray

Chevrolet ImpalaInfiniti Q50

Jaguar F-TypeKia Cadenza

Lexus ISMazda3

Mazda6Mercedes-Benz CLA

Toyota Corolla

North American Truck/Utility of the Year

Acura MDXBMW X5

Buick EncoreChevrolet Silverado

GMC SierraHyundai Santa Fe LWB

Jeep CherokeeKia Sorento

Land Rover Range Rover SportNissan Rogue

Subaru ForesterToyota Tundra

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[Drew Dowdell]

GM is in line to sweep both categories.