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Motor Press Guild Announces Vehicle Of The Year Finalists

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Motor Press Guild Announces Vehicle Of The Year Finalists

Kurt Ernst

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2 1,935 views Oct 10, 2011

2012 Audi A7 3.0T

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The Motor Press Guild (MPG) is the largest automotive media association in North America, and it’s membership includes some of the best known names in automotive print and broadcast journalism. While other media associations have awarded “Car of the Year” trophies for decades, the MPG has resisted the trend, at least until now.

For 2011, the MPG is announcing its first “Vehicle of the Year” awards, with the winner to be declared at the upcoming Los Angeles Auto Show on November 16. MPG members will drive the candidate vehicles at the MPG’s upcoming track days, scheduled for October 11 and 12.

The nominated vehicles are the 2012 Audi A7, the 2012 Chevrolet Sonic, the 2012 Fiat 500, the 2012 Ford Focus and the 2012 Hyundai Elantra. All will be evaluated by MPG members in regards to safety, value, fuel economy, quality, handling, design, environmental impact and innovation.

To qualify, a vehicle must be all-new or substantially changed for the 2011 model year, and it must be available at dealerships prior to January 1, 2012. Since MPG is based in Southern California, members are encouraged to pick the vehicle that best represents the “unique Southern California marketplace,” which those of us living elsewhere would find hard to define.

The MPG selections for Vehicle of the Year represent a good mix of automobiles across multiple segments and price points. From our perspective, there really isn’t a bad choice in the bunch.

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Comments (2)

Jim Glass Posted: 10/10/2011 12:42pm PDT

The Audi A7 might be a good choice since it fits at the top in most rankings but it really is just a copy of the concept originated by Mercedes in its CLS with a hatch added. The Sonic is neat but it's overweight and the Hyundai is just another econobox. The Fiat 500 is another "cute" car but works best in an urban setting. All round best in my view is the new Focus. It has aggressive "pizzaz" coupled with above average quality and very good handling and economy. But it's not a cheap car. It's just a smaller, well-equipped stylish car that's fun to drive and it can be lived with daily whether in an urban or suburban setting.

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Kurt Ernst Posted: 10/11/2011 3:56am PDT

@Jim, I have to disagree about the Hyundai. Its previous generation Elantra was indeed just another econobox, but the current version is stylish, safe, fuel-efficient, well equipped and reasonably entertaining to drive, at a price the competition struggles to match.

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