2009 North American Car and Truck of the Year Finalists

Chevrolet Malibu has won the last year award

Ford Flex, Hyundai Genesis and Dodge Challenger are three of the 14 candidates for the prestigious 2009 North American Car of the Year award, it was announced today. BMW X6, Nissan Murano, Volkswagen Tiguan and eight other vehicles compete for the 2009 North American Truck of the Year prize.

To be eligible for the competition, all cars must represent new or revised models that include “substantially changed” features from the previous model, the official website of the award explains. “This year the jury considered more than 50 vehicles and finally settled on 14 cars and 11 trucks that deserved to be on the ballot.”

Models were selected by a number of factors, including innovation, design, safety, handling, driver satisfaction and price. Winners will be announced on January 11th at the North American International Auto Show.

“Now the jurors begin a second round of voting. In this second round they will vote on the three car and three truck finalists. As with the first round of voting, those ballots go directly to Michelle Collins, Vice Chairman Automotive at Deloitte & Touche,” the official page reads.

Here are the full lists for both the 2009 North American Car of the Year and 2009 North American Truck of the Year awards:

2009 North American Car of the Year nominees:

Audi A4
BMW 1 Series
Cadillac CTS-V
Dodge Challenger
Ford Flex
Honda Fit
Hyundai Genesis
Jaguar XF
Lincoln MKS
Mazda 6
Nissan GT-R
Pontiac G8
Toyota Venza
Volkswagen Jetta TDI

2009 North American Truck of the Year nominees:

BMW X6
Chevrolet Traverse
Dodge Ram
Ford F-150
Honda Pilot
Infiniti FX35/50
Kia Borrego
Mercedes-Benz ML320 BlueTEC
Nissan Murano
Subaru Forester
Volkswagen Tiguan