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North American Car/Truck of the Year shortlists led by Ford, GM, Hyundai/Kia and Nissan [w/poll]

Filed under: Detroit Auto Show, Etc.

A pool of 50 U.S. and Canada-based automotive journalists from various news outlets has cut down the list for the 2011 North American Car and Truck of the Year awards to 14 possible winning vehicles in each category.

Among the manufacturers, Ford, Hyundai/Kia, General Motors, and Nissan lead with the most nominations, and the lists run the gamut from the inexpensive (Ford Fiesta, Mazda2), to the sybaritic (Audi A8, Jaguar XJ, Porsche Cayenne), to the groundbreaking (Chevrolet Volt, Nissan Leaf).

Car	Truck
Audi A8	Dodge Durango
Buick Regal	Ford Edge
Chevrolet Cruze	Ford Explorer
Chevrolet Volt	Honda Odyssey
Ford Fiesta	Hyundai Tucson
Hyundai Sonata	Infiniti QX56
Infiniti M37/M56	Jeep Grand Cherokee
Jaguar XJ	Kia Sorento
Kia Optima	Kia Sportage
Mazda2	Lincoln MKX
Nissan Juke	Mercedes-Benz R-Class
Nissan Leaf	Porsche Cayenne
Volkswagen Jetta	Toyota Sienna
Volvo S60	Volkswagen Touareg

Jurors will cull each list down further in December, and the finalists will be displayed when the winning car and truck are announced at the Detroit Auto Show in January.

What car and truck do you expect to win? Check out our galleries of the finalists below, then click through the jump to place your vote for the car and truck you expect to win. If you like, you can also drop your fellow commenter a line as to what vehicle you’d most like to see take home the heavy hardware.

(*Full Disclosure: Author is a member of the NACTOY voting jury)

Gallery: 2011 North American Car of the Year Short List

Gallery: 2011 North American Truck of the Year Short List

[Source: North American Car of the Year]

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North American Car/Truck of the Year shortlists led by Ford, GM, Hyundai/Kia and Nissan [w/poll] originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 24 Sep 2010 19:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Monterey 2010: McLaren MP4-12C makes North American debut, ushers in new McLaren order

Filed under: Coupe, Performance

McLaren MP4-12C North American debut – Click above for high-res image gallery

With a burst of light and a swoosh of its car cover, the McLaren MP4-12C made its North American debut this evening in Pebble Beach. Gooding auctions unveiled the new supercar at its preview reception, the same locale that has seen the debuts of other significant vehicles from the past few years – namely the Rolls-Royce Hyperion and the Pininfarina P4/5. But tonight McLaren was definitely the star of the show. Besides giving Americans their first glimpse of its latest model, McLaren also talked a bit about the new company they are introducing to build and sell not just the MP4-12C, but a whole range of road vehicles.

This isn’t like the way things were done with the F1, where it was basically a special project inside the technical and racing operations…no, it’s a whole new passenger car company that will have an assortment of vehicles apparently. In fact, McLaren Automotive has already announced the list of 35 cities that will be hosting McLaren dealerships, and the rumor mill is in full swing telling us that a successor to the big-daddy F1 is in the cards for as early as 2012. The last bit of info we gleened from the presentation was that they seemed to talk a lot about their winning history in both Formula 1 and sports car racing and how they love to win. Perhaps a not-so-subtle hint that a racing version of the MP4-12C will be built? Makes sense to us. While we’re waiting for spy shots of that project, do yourself a favor and check out the hot new McLaren in our gallery below.

Gallery: McLaren MP4-12C North American debut

Monterey 2010: McLaren MP4-12C makes North American debut, ushers in new McLaren order originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 13 Aug 2010 23:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Monterey 2010: Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport makes North American debut

Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Bugatti

Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport – Click above for high-res image gallery

Bugatti made big news last month when it unveiled the Veyron 16.4 Super Sport. The 1200-horsepower supercar smashed the production car speed record by reaching nearly 268 mph at the Volkswagen proving grounds, and it even made the fastest ever lap around the Top Gear test track in the hands of the Stig.

We’ve previously only seen pictures of just one Super Sport model – the record-setting car with the polarizing orange and black paint scheme – but now we know that the Bugatti factory has spewed out at least two examples. The Super Sport made its North American debut at the Quail Motorsports Gathering earlier today with gorgeous blue carbon fiber paint. We have to say we much prefer it over its counterpart.

We’ve heard the record-setting Super Sport is also in town and will be at Laguna Seca, so we’ll hopefully be able to bring you more photos of that car, and expect plenty more coverage from the Quail Motorsports Gathering throughout this weekend.

Gallery: Monterey 2010: Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport

Monterey 2010: Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport makes North American debut originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 13 Aug 2010 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Obama working to pitch success of auto bailouts to American public

Filed under: Etc., Government/Legal, Hirings/Firings/Layoffs, Chrysler, GM, Earnings/Financials

You don’t have to be a pollster to know that for the most part, the American public remains none too happy about the federal government handing over the people’s hard-earned tax dollars to pull General Motors and Chrysler out of the fires of insolvency. Despite the fact that both companies have managed to keep their lights on, doors open and paychecks flowing due to their generous federal loans, Joe Plumber still can’t stand the thought of paying the price of the two companies’ failures. With midterm elections right around the corner, President Obama is in Detroit to attempt to sway that opinion.

The Commander-in-Chief will speak to crowds at Chrysler’s Jefferson North plant about the positive side of loaning close to $85 billion to two of our country’s largest automakers, including the fact that in 2010, the Big Three have re-hired a total of 55,000 of the 334,000 workers it sent packing a year prior. That may seem like a fraction of the total, but the President is certain to point out that without the loans, that job loss figure would have been much higher.

And then there’s the matter of getting the federal government’s money back. President Obama is also focusing on sharing his belief that a large majority of the country’s money will be returned once GM and Chrysler go public once again.

Interested in keeping tabs on Obama’s visit to Motown? The Detroit Free Press has a liveblog that you can follow along with (including live audio) by clicking here.

[Sources: Bloomberg, Detroit Free Press | Image: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty]

Obama working to pitch success of auto bailouts to American public originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 30 Jul 2010 13:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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