Hyundai Elantra and Range Rover Evoque win 2012 North American Car and Truck of the Year awards

Hyundai Elantra and Range Rover Evoque win 2012 North American Car and Truck of the Year awards

The new Hyundai Elantra is the 2012 North American Car of the Year, while the Range Rover Evoque is the 2012 North American Truck of the Year. Both victorious models were revealed at the 2012 North American International Auto Show at Detroit.

The winners were chosen by a jury of 50 automotive journalists from the United States and Canada. Instead of being given by a single media outlet, they are awarded by a coalition of automotive journalists from the both countries who represent magazines, television, radio, newspapers and websites.

The awards are designed to recognise the most outstanding new vehicles of the year, benchmarks in their segments based on factors including innovation, comfort, design, safety, handling, driver satisfaction and value for the dollar, according to the organisers.

Hyundai Elantra and Range Rover Evoque win 2012 North American Car and Truck of the Year awards

The Elantra MD, which will be launched next month in Malaysia, scored 174 points. It beat the Volkswagen Passat (161) and Ford Focus (155). “The Hyundai Elantra is sporty, yet sensible. Luxurious, yet affordable. Spunky, but safe. The Elantra is a series of paradoxes and every one is another argument for the latest, impressive entry in the Hyundai lineup,” wrote Jayne O’Donnell, a member of the jury from USA Today. This is the second North American COTY award for Hyundai, which came up tops in 2009 with the Genesis.

In the truck category, which includes SUVs, the Range Rover Evoque scored 254 points, way ahead of the Honda CR-V’s 142 and the BMW X3’s 94. This is the first win for the British marque. “Range Rover successfully charts a new direction for the venerable SUV trailblazer with a fresh design and advanced thinking about environmental issues,” said another juror, Alex Taylor of Fortune magazine.

This is the 19th year of the awards, which was inspired by the “Car of the Year” in Europe. Last year, the Chevrolet Volt won for cars and the Ford Explorer won for trucks, but none of the Detroit carmakers made it into the top three in either category this year. Congratulations Hyundai and Land Rover!

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Danny Tan

Danny Tan loves driving as much as he loves a certain herbal meat soup, and sweet engine music as much as drum beats. He has been in the auto industry since 2006, previously filling the pages of two motoring magazines before joining this website. Enjoys detailing the experience more than the technical details.

 

Comments

  • Hyundai has came a long way, nice to see such award going to a Korean car

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  • confused on Jan 10, 2012 at 8:54 am

    Wow.. With that bodykits, Elantra sure looks more handsome..

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
  • Nissan on Jan 10, 2012 at 9:18 am

    with this crown, will this Korean H beat the upcoming Japanese H civic which receive many criticism? it’s value for the dollar, but it has no value for the RM.

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    • klguy on Jan 10, 2012 at 9:50 am

      in malaysia, T H and N still rocks no matter what award the koreans won abrroad. The Ah peks here control the market, not US :P

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      • thats y bolehland is still a third world mentality country

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      • apamau on Jan 10, 2012 at 4:18 pm

        u got it spot on.. malaysia car are control by Ah Pek. Son wanna buy car also Ah Pek Pay

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  • VW_fan on Jan 10, 2012 at 9:36 am

    Hyundai COTY? Back then my US friends couldnt even pronounce the brand.

    The world has really changed.

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    • I believe they still can’t pronounce the brand right…because they always thought what they did was right…

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  • Kumar san on Jan 10, 2012 at 9:37 am

    Hyundai Motor Corp has certainly improved by leaps and bounds considering what they were,say 5 years ago.Look at them now,they are bagging awards after awards in North America where i was for a very long time.This was not the case when i was there though.

    If they can dethrone Honda and Toyota in the U.S,i don’t see any reason why they can’t do the same elsewhere,here in Malaysia included.They are really on a roll.Kudos to them.

    Cheers.

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  • bobby on Jan 10, 2012 at 9:43 am

    Hyundai won numerous awards GLOBALLY, but in Msian heart, those award are nothing and the car said to be “junk”.

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  • adiia4 on Jan 10, 2012 at 9:47 am

    both have no resale value.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 1
    • bobby on Jan 10, 2012 at 2:19 pm

      you and your mentality.. sigh resale resale resale is what you know. belum beli sudah mau jual, belum kahwin kena tengok itu isteri maintenance high or low and divorce paper is RM4000 or RM6000.

      buy car loan 7 / 9 years, still wanna talk about resale value.

      if you buy the car with cash, or loan 3 to 5 years, then you are qualified to talk about resale value.

      Basically, we all just pay deposit and loan the car from bank.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 0
  • prrghh on Jan 10, 2012 at 9:51 am

    the first picture, i thought i was looking at 8th gen civic, darn

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  • RR is a truck ? whaa…. CRV n X3 too… im confused

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  • DewaSemut on Jan 10, 2012 at 10:16 am

    Hopefully Elantra arriving soon to Malaysian shores will be as good as the car sold in the States…. :)

    Thinking of getting one if price is below RM100K. :D

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
    • No way the price will below RM100K for this beauty…i think mostly will between RM100K – RM 110K.

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      • Nasai on Jan 10, 2012 at 5:53 pm

        Rumoured that 1.6 will be around Forte’s 2.0 SX’s price whereas 1.8 NU I predict would easily reached RM110k. Y lah Civic launched in March? Should launch both at the same time, then can make a very good comparison. Maybe Honda’s idea of launching it later is to make potential Hyundai Elantra’s owner regret as I heard rumour that it will be equipped with sunroof, keyless entry, LED DRL, etc while Elantra will not have the LED DRL (unless aftermarket installed).

        I really hoped the Honda Civic’s design (tail light, front light as the design will be similar) will be much more improved than the one in US. They got really bad criticsm until they plan to launch a facelift at the end of 2012 in US. It’s so rare for a car manufacturer to launch a facelift which the new model is less than a year old.

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        • helmi on Jan 10, 2012 at 9:13 pm

          If this new 1.8 Elantra more the RM100k, definitely I will take either Toyota or Honda marque in the same class.

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  • I looove this latest elantra!So sexy.I heard that this car is coming this month or next month. a bit dissapointing cz when i did my survey on the web for this car, it has no dytime running light, no retractable side mirror & no LED tail light. Everything else is purrfect to me, but personnally i think any new car now they should come with DRL, LED & retractable side mirror (Exora bold pn ada lah)! I wanted to buy this beauty however, the lack of these three makes me to search for more car.Or maybe i just wait until Audi A3 come is 2014!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
    • audi easily break 185k for the car and hyundai price this car 110k nobody will buy

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  • squawk on Jan 10, 2012 at 11:16 am

    According to Malaysian standards, it is impossible for Hyundai to receive any such awards. This is a global conspiracy. :-)

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  • Liberty03 on Jan 10, 2012 at 11:54 am

    Value differ from country to country. Here in Malaysia, we finance a car up to 9 years and the car price incredibly high. In advance country however, car price so small compared to their income. So the slect a car based on fashion. They will dispose a car after a year or two. Please look around us, anyone will notice number of imported car, so called luxury car, but actually second hand car! Why?

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  • redwings on Jan 10, 2012 at 12:16 pm

    The new babe, Elantra is coming to our shore soon…

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • Sgt Scoop on Jan 10, 2012 at 12:35 pm

    Fair play to Hyundai. They seem to have really upped their game in the last ten years. Proton take note.

    I’m a little gutted that the Evoque is so good. It’s going to cost an arm and a leg in Malaysia so despite its looks and quality, it would be madness to buy one. :(

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  • Sgt Scoop on Jan 10, 2012 at 4:08 pm

    The cheapest version of the Evoque is 28k pounds (RM140k) in England. I had a look on the Land Rover Malaysia site and there is no indication of the price but my guess is somewhere above RM400k. :(

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  • lol, another Evoque spotted on the first picture. Gratz Hyundai by the way, where’s maserati and masked ryder?

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  • autobizz on Jan 10, 2012 at 9:55 pm

    hyundai wont price it high. the used car value is not as good as other like toyota yet.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 1
    • Don’t even bought the car yet, and started thinking selling it. Nice mind lol, it’s like wanted to married and scared that wife will take your money the time when you divorce.

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  • To ordinary chap like me who “torture” my car for minimum 7 -10 years, resale value is not a priority. Having booked one since Oct 11′, the salesgirl just called me Monday confirming that launch date is Feb. For 1.8 Premium, expect RM110-120K including leather seal, sunroof, gps, 6 airbags, reverse camera and others. Forgotten to ask about auto folding side mirroe though ….. After driving Civics for 20 years, time to change !

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  • LFA LOVER on Jan 12, 2012 at 5:18 pm

    6 airbag?? dont think so, at most only 2

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  • Chevy Volt on Jan 12, 2012 at 9:12 pm

    It is good that Hyundai and the Land Rover won the awards this years. The Hyundai Elantra looks good but as it is mentioned here in the comments section the car is indeed quite disappointing. The SUV model for some reason is not that exciting for me I always like the Sedan models. Anyway, thank for sharing the information with everyone….

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  • Jan 10 on Mar 01, 2012 at 1:41 pm

    Agree… Don’t talk about resale value…. so far Hyundai Malaysia comes with 5 years warranty or 300,000km. Value for money….hmmm its awesome…

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  • zainudin bin lamsah on Apr 02, 2012 at 10:10 am

    Test drove d md elantra 1.8 – H@SD said its a premium model
    D 1.8 prem ltd cums with body kit (as shown above) w/o spoiler and diff rims (17″ still)
    1 2 describe what they got
    Pure leather GPS reverse camera on 7″ monitor usb ipod bla2x
    Elect driver seat oto rain senc oto lite apprchin tunnel oto assist head lite (all HID) oto beam senc on drivin mirror SUNROOF n KEYLESS START STOP button – no need to press button on d remote control to go in n car wont lock if remote left in car
    Performance
    Pro
    150 horse new nu ngin
    smuf 6speed tipT
    H n T 1.8 of Jap dont acah2 when d lite turns GREEN
    in fact better still from mid to top
    Kon
    Spare tire SOTONG n d door closing sound

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 0
 

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