N.A. Car and Truck of the Year Finalists Announced

Filed under: Detroit Auto Show, Etc., Dodge, Ford, Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Volkswagen

Click either image for a high-res gallery of the NACOTY and TOTY nominees

Now that the motoring world has announced the International COTY and TOTY contenders, the finalists for North American Car and Truck of the Year have been revealed. The six chosen chariots consist of some of the same nameplates, but whereas the international body tapped the Dodge Challenger, Ford Flex and Nissan GT-R for the car honors, the 50 N.A. automotive journalists have elected the Ford Flex, Hyundai Genesis and Volkswagen Jetta TDI as finalists for the 2009 NACOTY. So the Challenger makes the International list but not the North American one? Baffling. The Nissan GT-R didn't make the N.A. cut, but it could be argued that the Flex and Genesis are more important to their respective companies, and the Jetta, well, it's green and all. The Jetta TDI did appear on the separate Earth, Wind & Power list from the international committee.

On the Truck side we have the Ford F-150 and Dodge Ram making both lists, but the N.A. group selected another Earth, Wind & Power nominee, the Mercedes-Benz ML320 BlueTEC, instead of the internationally-nominated Subaru Forester. All of the contendors seem worthy of recognition, but we're sure you'll have your own suggestions, as do we. Both sets of winners will be announced January 11th at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The full press release with all of the eligible nominees is after the jump and we've assembled a gallery of the finalists below.

Gallery: 2009 North American Car and Truck of the Year finalists