Japanese brands dominate 2016 North American Car and Utility/Truck of the Year finals
Four vehicles from Japanese manufacturers are among the six finalists in the 2016 North American Car and Truck/Utility of the Year awards.
Honda has contenders in both categories, with the all-new Civic small sedan and coupe in the running for the Car of the Year prize and the large Pilot SUV a chance for the Truck/Utility of the Year gong.
The Mazda MX-5 roadster and Nissan Titan XD pick-up have also been named finalists for the 2016 awards, alongside the mid-sized Chevrolet Malibu sedan and the luxury Volvo XC90 SUV.
A jury of 53 journalists from Canada and the US will now vote on the vehicles they believe sets new benchmarks in their segments for innovation, design, safety, handling, driver satisfaction and value.
The winners will be announced at next month’s 2016 Detroit auto show.
American vehicles traditionally perform well in the awards program. Since 2007, 13 of the 18 winners have come from American brands: five each from Chevrolet and Ford, and one each from Cadillac, Ram, and the now-defunct Saturn.
A Japanese manufacturer hasn’t been crowned the winner of either award since 2009, when the Mazda CX-9 won the Truck/Utility of the Year prize.
Honda will be hoping it can mirror its success from a decade ago, when it completed a clean sweep with the Civic and Ridgeline models.
Nissan hasn’t claimed a win since 2002 with the Altima.
Last year's winners were the Volkswagen Golf and Ford F-150.
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