The Detroit Auto Show officially kicked off on Monday by handing out their annual awards to a few lucky marques for making some pretty great cars, including the Honda Civic earning the 2016 North American Car award and the North American Truck/Utility of the Year title going to the Volvo XC90.
Now in its 23rd year, the winners were voted on by 53 independent auto journalists from a variety of media outlets from Canada and the United States, which helps ensure that the decision is fair and weighed evenly. According to the auto show, the panelists look for “vehicles [that] are benchmarks in their segments based on factors including innovation, comfort, design, safety, handling, driver satisfaction and value for the dollar.”
The three cars that missed out on the major car award were the Chevrolet Malibu, the Honda Civic and the Mazda MX-5 Miata, while the truck finalists were the Honda Pilot, Nissan Titan XD and the Volvo XC90.
