2012 North American Car Of The Year: Detroit Auto Show Video

Marty Padgett

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Marty Padgett is High Gear Media's Editorial Director, overseeing the words that skim across High Gear Media's portfolio of automotive destinations... More

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2012 Hyundai Elantra

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What's the best new car, and what's the best new truck for the 2012 model year?

The North American Car and Truck of the Year jury has spoken, and at this year's Detroit Auto Show, the committee chose its two favorites for the new model year.

For this year's awards, the winners are the 2012 Hyundai Elantra for car of the year and the 2012 Land Rover Range Rover Evoque for truck of the year.

In all, 50 journalists from the U.S. and Canada chose the Elantra and Evoque from a field of 24 vehicles, including seven trucks and 17 cars. On the short list aside the Elantra were the Volkswagen Passat and Ford Focus, with a points spread of less than 20 between all three.

Among the trucks, the Evoque won by a wide margin, finishing more than 100 points ahead of the Honda CR-V and BMW X3.

Jurors include our own editorial director Marty Padgett, who brings you more detail in the video here.

2012 North American Car of the Year Nominees

Audi A6
Audi A7
Buick Verano
Chevrolet Sonic
Chrysler 300/SRT-8
Fiat 500
Ford Focus
Hyundai Accent
Hyundai Elantra
Hyundai Veloster
Kia Rio/Rio 5
Scion iQ
Subaru Impreza
Toyota Camry
Toyota Prius V
VW Beetle
VW Passat

2012 North American Truck of the Year Nominees

BMW X3
Honda CR-V
Land Rover Range Rover Evoque
Mercedes-Benz M-Class
Mini Countryman
Nissan Quest
Saab 9-4X

High Gear Media covers the 2012 Detroit Auto Show live from Cobo Center--follow the news on the Web, on Facebook or on Twitter