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ABOUT
NACOTY |
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“Car of
the Year” awards are not uncommon, and there seem to
be more of them every year. That raises a reasonable question:
what makes The North American Car and Truck of the Year awards
different?
The answer is simple: independence and the breadth and depth of the jury
members’ expertise.
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The
jury is composed of no more than 50 automotive
journalists - writers and broadcasters from
across the U.S. and Canada. Most have covered the auto
industry for decades. |
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Operating
expenses are defrayed by membership dues — there
are no outside subsidies — and the voting of
the jury is made public. |
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First
given in 1994, the North American awards were
patterned on the “Car of the Year,” which for
decades has been the most prestigious automotive award
in Europe. |
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The goal is
to select a car and a truck that set new benchmarks in the
classes in which they compete. Jurors evaluate the vehicles
on factors including value for the dollar, innovation, handling,
performance, safety and driver satisfaction. |
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Unlike some awards,
domestic and imported vehicles compete against each other. |
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To be eligible,
a vehicle must have been substantially changed from the previous
model and must go on sale shortly after the announcement
of the award, which is early in January. |
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Cars
must have reasonably foreseeable annual sales in North
America of 5,000 vehicles. |
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Trucks
must have reasonably foreseeable annual sales in
North America of 2,000 vehicles. |
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Voting takes
place early December. Each juror has 25 points to distribute
for car and 25 for truck. No more than 10 points may be awarded
to any one vehicle, and the 10-point maximum can be bestowed
only once. However, the juror must award all 25 points. |
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The ballots are
sent directly to the Detroit office of Deloitte & Touche,
the distinguished accounting firm. |
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The three finalist vehicles
in each category are announced in mid-December, and the winners
are unveiled at the outset of the annual North American International
Automobile Show in Detroit. |
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Until that news
conference the identity of the winning vehicles
is known only to Deloitte and Touche staff. |
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While
the awards are announced at a news conference
at the North American International Auto Show the
show itself does not give the awards. |
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In
2007 news about the awards was broadcast on
280 stations in 140 markets, and was seen by 17.3 million
viewers. The awards were also the subject of thousands
of news articles published around the world.
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