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.

LOL @ Monorail cat

OMG NO WAI! You can't compare something that sells at 35,000L with something that sells for 65,000L. This comparo is all wrong! He should have compared it to the BMW 335i because they sell at the same price! Who cares if the VXR8 is a full foot longer and 300lbs more!?! YOU HAVE TO COMPARE IT TO THE CARS IN IT'S PRICE CLASS NO MATTER WHAT! sheesh... Clarkson is such a retard.

only 9k went to the rental market. The rest were commercial purchases. but why aren't we counting this with Cobalt/G5 sales like Toyota does with the Matrix/Corolla?

One new accord no new malibus And Chevy is the best selling brand here for the past 7 years.

The things you could do with a pushrod and 4-speed auto....

bad Camino... you shouldn't make fun of his height like that.

Why is there this assumption that GM overproduced the 3800 in the 10s of thousands?

I do. It's really easy to guess. But please have respect and restraint in e-mailing him. He does reply if the questions are concise enough.

cool, another article that doesn't present all the facts and ignores other reasons for using the fuel.

I've heard a similar amount of anecdotal evidence as to the same...... well.. regardless of transmission anyway.

There.... there is just no good response to that.

If the Impala and LaX are going to continue longer than the GP. Putting the 3.9 in the LaX would make sense. It would also be an OK base engine for the Lucerne.

Do I hear 3.9? 3.9 anyone?

beat me to it Griff

Over the 3? yes VW? Maybe, I haven't driven the Golf, but with the reliability problems we had with my Ex's Passat, it would be an uphill battle for it. Remember, I'm coming from a CTS, I'd buy the loaded out model anyway. This is the Focus I drove. 2 Liter <I think> turbo diesel that was as refined as any Honda 4-cylinder and easily quieter. No it didn't pull to 8,000 rpm, it didn't need to, it felt like a V6. It starts at 23k Euro which is about 33k dollars but remember that exchange rates are fluid. If they produced it here <or in Mexico> it would be substantially less expensive for us. If the price was say, 27k dollars, would you pay that for a hard top cabrio with NAV, leather, great handling, and a 4 cylinder diesel that pulls like a V6 and gets 40mpg or better? Want to keep the $10,000 Focuses? Fine. Brand the Euro-Focus as a Mercury and BAM, Mercury is relevant again. Edit: I like the *look* of the Astra, but the engine and weird option combinations give me pause. I'd have to drive it first. If we had gotten the Astra Twintop, then yeah, I'd go Saturn.

<-- seen one in person <-- ridden in one <-- driven one <-- would prefer it over the US focus.

GAaah! My eyes! All those button and knobs! :AH-HA_wink: In this price class the Audi A6 gets my vote for most attractive: then again, I've always wanted to be at the helm of the Enterprise.

And there's the rub. There really isn't anything wrong with the STS's interior.... it is just conservative and doesn't "Wow". I've never felt the BMW interiors were "Wow". Both are just simple and handsome but nothing special. The main difference between the two is the BMW replaces all the small buttons with one big one. People want the STS to be a 2008 Duesenburg for 60 easy payments of $299.99 with no money down and that is just not realistic.

people need to get a life. I drove like an idiot as a kid, I didn't need a commercial from McDonalds to tell me to do it.

heh I love this one

OMG PONTIAC IS TEH SHELVED@@!@!@@!!!!!

I have socialistic tenancies for businesses that end up being natural monopolies.... utilities, some areas of transportation, those sorts of things. I also tend to not like market consolidation and would like to put stronger limits on mergers and acquisitions. So, we'll just have to agree to disagree there.

The LaCross obviously has the ES directly in it's crosshairs.