2013 North American Car and Truck of the year

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Vincono Cadillac ATS e Dodge Ram 1500

The winners of the much-anticipated 2013 North American Car and Truck of the year were announced today in

Detroit

at the opening of the press days for the North American

International

Auto Show.

The Cadillac ATS won for Car of the Year and the Ram 1500 for Truck of the year.

The other finalists in the car category were the Ford Fusion and the Honda Accord.

The two other truck finalists were Ford C-Max and Mazda CX-5. Due to the growing varieties of trucks, the category was renamed this year to North American Truck/Utility of the Year.

Cadillac, owned by

General Motors, has always been a brides maid at this event never taking home the top prize. But it has been a finalist several times. The luxury marque was a finalist for the top Car award in 2008 with its CTS, but took a back seat to the Chevrolet Malibu. In 2004, it was a finalist in both categories, with its slick XLR roadster and SRX suv-looking crossover, but the Toyota Prius and Ford F-150 were the winners. Cadillac also fell short as a car finalist in 2002 with its CTS, losing to Nissan’s Altima.

The only time Ram has ever won top honors before was in 1994, the year the awards debuted. In 2009, the Ram lost as a finalist to winner Ford’s F-150.

The winners are selected by 49 auto journalists from the U.S. and Canada, including Joann Muller, DetroitBureau Chief of Forbes. The reporters, from all mediums, culled the finalists from 46 all-new vehicles for the 2013 model year and narrowed it to 11 cars and 10 trucks. The judges were instructed to vote for the vehicles that raised the bar or set new benchmarks in their segments. To be eligible, a vehicle had to have been redone or substantially changed for the 2013 model year.How important is this award?Jesse Toprak, senior analyst for auto site TrueCar.com told me “the award brings the winning vehicle an instant media coverage boost, as the Detroit auto show is the most popularly covered auto show in the world.” He called the awards the “Critics Choice of the automotive industry” because the voting is done by a respected group of auto journalists. The winners can and often do, tout the award in their marketing campaigns, differentiating their vehicles in a very crowded marketplace, he added.

Honda has had a good showing in the annual event. The brand executed a coup in 2006 by capturing both awards with its Ridgeline truck and Civic. Honda’s CR-V was a truck finalist last year, but lost to the Range Rover Evoque – marking Land Rover’s first-ever win. The Honda Accord was also a finalist in 2008 and the Fit a finalist in ’07. Honda was also a finalist in 2003, 2001 and 1999 for Element suv, Insight hybrid car and Odyssey minivan respectively.

The only time Mazda was given the top award was in 2008, when it was honored for its CX-9 crossover. Mazda’s RX-8 sports car was a finalist in 2004.

The Ford brand is another perennial player. Explorer won the truck award in 2011 and Ford’s Focus car was a finalist last year . In 2010 the Ford brand swept both categories, for its Fusion Hybrid sedan in the car category and Transit Connect in the truck segment. Ford’s Fusion and Explorer were finalists in 2006, as was Ford’s Thunderbird in 2002. Ford’s 2005 Escape Hybrid won that year, besting the Ford Freestyle and Land Rover LR3. The Mustang was also a finalist in 2005. Ford took home the Truck Awards in 1996 and 1997, for the Expedition and F-150 respectively.

This is the 20th year of the awards. In the prior 19 years: domestic automakers have won North American Car of the Year 10 times; European makes have won four times; Japanese marques three times and South Korea’s Hyundai twice. On the truck side, the domestics have won Truck of the Year 12 times; Japanese four times and Europeans three times.

Last year’s Car of the Year winner was Hyundai’s Elantra. Hyundai had previously won the Car of the Year Award in 2009 for its Genesis.