North American Car, Truck of the Year Winners: 2011 Ford Explorer, 2011 Chevy Volt

Martin Padgett Editorial Director

January 10, 2011

The winners for the North American Car and Truck of the Year have been announced, at the 2011 Detroit auto show--and they are the 2011 Chevrolet Volt and the 2011 Ford Explorer.

The prestigious awards are chosen by a panel of 49 automotive journalists from all forms of media--online, print, broadcast and radio--representing the U.S. and Canada.

This year's finalists for the car award included the 2011 Chevrolet Volt, the 2011 Nissan Leaf and the 2011 Hyundai Sonata. Among trucks, crossovers and SUVs, three new models were selected for the final round of voting: the 2011 Dodge Durango, the 2011 Ford Explorer and the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee.

Jurors narrowed the list to the six finalists in a first round of voting in November, then voted again on the remaining vehicles by awarding points to any or all of the vehicles in question.

The winners of last year's NACOTY awards were the 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid sedan and the 2010 Ford Transit Connect van.

American automakers have dominated the awards over the past decade, with nine wins in the car field, and 11 wins among trucks. Japanese automakers have tallied three car wins and four truck wins; European automakers are four-time winners on the car side, and two-time winners among trucks. South Korea's Hyundai is the sole winner from that nation, with its winning 2009 Hyundai Genesis sedan.

More than 50 new or heavily revised vehicles were nominated for this year's awards, including the following:

2011 North American Car of the Year

Audi A8

Buick Regal

Chevrolet Cruze

Chevrolet Volt

Ford Fiesta

Hyundai Sonata/2.0T/Hybrid

Infiniti M37/56

Jaguar XJ

Kia Optima

Mazda Mazda2