2015 North American Car & Truck/Utility of the Year awards announced

As the curtains went up for the 2015 edition of the North American International Auto Show in Detroit a few hours back, the winners of one of the most anticipated awards in the automotive industry were announced. Now in their twenty second year, the North American Car and Truck/Utility of the Year awards are considered significant as they represent the collective opinion of 57 jurors from all forms of automotive media - magazines, newspapers, television, websites and radio.

To be eligible for this award, a car or truck/utility should be either all-new or substantially changed from the previous model year, priced less than $100,000 and must have an annual foreseeable North American sales of 5000 units for cars and 2000 units for trucks. From the initial list of vehicles that were eligible for the award, the jurors picked up three finalists for each category last month. In cars, Ford Mustang, Hyundai Genesis and Volkswagen Golf/GTI made the cut while Chevrolet Colorado, Ford F150 and Lincoln MKC were the trucks/utilities chosen for the final showdown.

When the final votes were tallied and announced live in front of gathered audience on the inaugural day of the North American International Auto Show today, it was Volkswagen and Ford that registered their names in the honour roll. Yes, the Golf/GTI is the 2015 North American Car of the Year while the F-150 took the 2015 North American Truck/Utility of the Year title.

The Golf has been a recipient of many an award before, including the highly coveted 2013 World Car of the Year title. Praised worldover for its pleasing yet evolutionary design, spacious interiors, fun-to-drive nature, an array of technologies under the hood and safety equipment, the Golf romped home with a fair margin over its competitors. In fact, the Ford Mustang seems to have given the Golf a hard time while Hyundai's highly impressive Genesis was a distant third in the final tally.

2015 NACOTY RESULTS:

1. Volkswagen Golf/GTI - 256

2. Ford Mustang - 204

3. Hyundai Genesis - 110

PREVIOUS NACOTY WINNERS:

* 2014 - Chevrolet Corvette Stingray

* 2013 - Cadillac ATS

* 2012 - Hyundai Elantra

* 2011 - Chevrolet Volt

* 2010 - Ford Fusion Hybrid

Moving over to America's favourite bodystyle, the country's favourite truck walked away with the award this time around. Taking the title from its cut-throat competitor from General Motors, Ford's revolutionary aluminium-bodied F-150 with a host of advancements all over nailed it, distancing itself quite comfortably from the competing Silverado. But the Chevy can take solace from the fact that it crushed the other finalist, the Lincoln MKC, by scoring thrice as many points.

2015 NATOTY RESULTS:

1. Ford F-150 - 261

2. Chevrolet Silverado - 142

3. Lincoln MKC - 87

PREVIOUS NATOTY WINNERS:

* 2014 - Chevrolet Silverado

* 2013 - Ram 1500

* 2012 - Land Rover Range Rover Evoque

* 2011 - Ford Explorer

* 2010 - Ford Transit Connect

For those who do not remember, Chevrolet swept the 2014 North American Car and Truck/Utility of the Year awards, with it's Corvette Stingray and Silverado emerging victorious last year.