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Car Chronicles Blog: North American Car And Truck Of The Year

It's the most difficult vote that I've had in the several years that I've been a juror for North American Car and Truck of the Year.

The first ballot was due Friday evening. I'll discuss my vote in detail shortly, but first some background. There are 60 jurors, we each have 25 points to allocate in both the truck and car category. We can't give any vehicle more than 10 points, and 10 points can only be given to one vehicle.

The finalists for car are: Acura TLX, Audi A3, Chrysler 200, Ford Mustang, Honda Fit, Hyundai Genesis sedan,Hyundai Sonata, Mercedes-Benz C-Class,Toyota Camry,Volkswagen Golf/GTI

The truck finalists are:  Audi Q3, Chevrolet Colorado, Chevrolet Tahoe, Ford F-150, GMC Canyon,Lexus NX, Lincoln MKC, Mercedes-Benz GLA-Class, Nissan Murano, Porsche Macan, Subaru Outback, Toyota Highlander

This is not a contest where you vote for your favorite. There is a very specific set of instructions, and I take them very seriously:

We are trying to honor vehicles that have raised the standards and have become new benchmarks in their class. Consequently, the winners may not be your personal favorites.

Vehicles should be compared against other vehicles in their class, not against other nominees, unless, of course, they are in the same class.

As noted in our rules and regulations, each vehicle should be judged on criteria including: general design, safety, fuel economy, handling and general roadworthiness, performance, comfort, assembly quality, functionality, technical innovation, driver satisfaction and price.

Please consider value for the dollar as well as affordability because we would like this award to be meaningful to the largest possible number of consumers.

Lots of great vehicles; not an easy choice. Let's talk about the Car of the Year vote first:

After lots of reflection, I gave the Genesis 9 points, the Mustang 8 points, and gave 3 points each to the 200 and C-Class.

The Mustang is a great car, lots of fun, and a worthy successor to a lot of great vehicles. I think it may be the front-runner for the award. But, after reading and re-reading the criteria, I thought the Genesis edged it out because it really is as good as Mercedes and BMW products that cost much more, and it is vastly improved over the first version, which won this award several years ago.

While I didn't feel either the 200 or the C-Class were in the same class as the Genesis and Mustang, I thought they were great improvements over previous versions, and deserved praise.

The Truck of the Year vote saw me give the F-150 10 points, the Chevy Colorado 9 points, and I gave 3 points each to the Lincoln MKC and Mercedes GLA. I actually was planning to give the extra point to the Colorado, until the fuel economy figures for the F-150 came out, and I was impressed enough to change my mind. They are both great vehicles, but I am concerned that having the GMC Canyon in the vote could hurt the Colorado.

The other two vehicles, as in the Car of the Year vote, were trucks worthy of praise, but not up to the level of the other vehicles.

The North American Car and Truck of the Year awards are different from others because of the diversity of the panel. There are people who are into horsepower, those who are into styling, and others who are more into technology. There are gearheads, and "regular guys" like me. That helps us come to a consensus that gives the award extra meaning.

The 3 finalists in each category will be announced Tuesday, December 9th. I'm guessing the Mustang, Genesis and VW Golf will be the finalists car of the year. Also thinking the Colorado and F-150 will be in the mix for Truck of the Year...and I can't even hazard a guess for the third finalist.

The awards will be presented at the start of press days for the North American International Auto Show.

Connect with Jeff Gilbert
Email: jdgilbert@cbs.com
Facebook: facebook.com/carchronicles
Twitter: @jefferygilbert
www.cbsdetroit.com/carchronicles

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