Chevrolet Silverado, Corvette win truck and car of the year
Chevrolet Silverado wins North American Truck of the Year while Corvette Stingray brings home car of the year in the first double win for Chevrolet. The 2014 Chevy Silverado beat out the Acura MDZ and Jeep Cherokee.
A 2014 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD pickup truck is displayed during the press preview day of the North American International Auto Show in Detroit this past week. Though other pickup trucks gained in sales in February, sales of GM's top-selling Chevy Silverado pickup truck fell 12 percent.
Rebecca Cook/Reuters/File
For the first time in history, Chevrolet has taken out both categories in the prestigious North American Car and Truck of the Year awards. Its 2014 Corvette Stingray sports car was picked by the judges for the car category while its 2014 Silverado 1500 pickup truck was picked for the truck/utility category in this year's event.
This was the second year in a row that a vehicle from General Motors has won the award, with the Cadillac ATS receiving top honors last year. And we came close to seeing another Cadillac go home with the top award this year; finalists in the car category included the 2014 Cadillac CTS and 2014 Mazda 3, while in the truck category the 2014 Acura MDX and 2014 Jeep Cherokee were among the top contenders.
A total of 49 automotive journalists from the U.S. and Canada vote to recognize the most outstanding vehicles of the year based on factors including innovation, design, safety, handling, driver satisfaction and value. Based on this criteria, they gave the Corvette Stingray 211 points; the Mazda 3 185 points and the Cadillac CTS 94 points. In the truck category, they gave the Silverado 1500 219 points; the Jeep Cherokee 174 points and the Acura MDX 97 points.
“Chevrolet is in the midst of the most aggressive product transformation in the brand’s more than 100-year history,” Chevrolet global boss Alan Batey said in a statement. “It is a distinct honor for the entire Chevrolet team to have both the Corvette and Silverado recognized with the prestigious North American Car and Truck of the Year awards.”