Foreign Brands Dominate North American Car, Truck of Year Finalists

DETROIT – Foreign-based auto makers dominate the finalists’ list for the North American Car and Truck of the Year awards after being nearly shut out last year by resurgent Detroit brands.

The Ford Focus is the only finalist built by the Detroit Three in both the car or truck categories this year. Others in the car category are the Hyundai Elantra and Volkswagen Passat. Finalists for the truck award are the BMW X3, Land Rover’s Range Rover Evoque and Honda CR-V.

Last year’s NACTOY winners were the Chevy Volt extended-range electric car and all-new Ford Explorer SUV. Finalists included two Chrysler SUVs.

This year’s finalists are revealed today at an Automotive Press Assn. luncheon here.

The NACTOY awards are unique in that winners are chosen by a coalition of 50 automotive journalists from the U.S. and Canada, instead of a single media outlet. The awards are financed by jurors’ dues, and NACTOY does not accept advertising from auto makers.

While most of the finalists this year are built by auto makers based overseas, all but the Evoque are built in the U.S.

During the past 18 years of the program, U.S. auto makers have won North American car awards 10 times, while Europeans have won four times and Japanese three times. Korean auto maker Hyundai has won once.

Detroit brands have won North American truck awards 12 times, Japanese auto makers have won four times and Europeans have won twice.

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