The 2012 North American Car and Truck of the Year are the Hyundai Elantra and the Land Rover Range Rover Evoque – the second time for Hyundai but the first time for the Land Rover. Hyundai’s Genesis got the award in 2009. The finalists for the 2012 North American Car of the Year are the Ford Focus and Volkswagen Passat. Meanwhile, the North American Truck of the Year finalists are the BMW X3 and Honda CR-V.
Voting on these awards are 50 automotive journalists from the U.S. and Canada who represent magazines, newspapers, Web sites, TV and radio. The vehicles were evaluated according to these criteria: innovation, design, safety, handling, driver satisfaction and value for the dollar. The semifinalists for the 2012 car award were the Audi A6, Audi A7, Buick Verano, Chevrolet Sonic, Chrysler 300/SRT8, Fiat 500, Ford Focus, Hyundai Accent, Hyundai Veloster, Kia Rio/Rio 5, Scion iQ, Subaru Impreza, Toyota Camry, Toyota Prius V, VW Beetle and VW Passat.
On the other hand, the semifinalists for the 2012 truck award were the BMW X3, Honda CR-V, Mercedes-Benz M class, Mini Countryman, Nissan Quest and Saab 9-4X. The North American Car of the Year in 2011 is the Chevrolet Volt sedan. The top car award was given to American automakers 10 times. For four times, the European automakers won the award. Japanese automakers took the honor three times while a Korean car won twice.
