awards:

Nominees for 2010 North American Car and Truck of the Year are finally out

The candidates for the 2010 North American car and Truck of the Year was recently released and as with any awards categories, this one includes a steady dose of expectant favorites, underdogs, and the proverbial dark horses.

All in all, 37 vehicles have been nominated for the two categories. The country with the most nominations is Japan with 12 – which includes a rare Suzuki entry with the Kizashi. Japan is followed by two regions fielding 11 cars each: the US and Europe. Rounding out the field is Korea with three entries with the Hyundai Genesis, the Kia Forte and the Kia Soul.

Noticeably absent from being nominated in the two categories is Chrysler, despite having a slew of cars and trucks in its roster.

Both Hyundai and Ford figure to defend their titles as Car and Truck of the Year after winning the two awards last year with the 2009 Hyundai Genesis and the 2009 Ford F-150, respectively. While the 2010 Genesis remains in the hunt for a back-to-back showing, the F-150 conspicuously was left among the entries for the Truck of the Year, meaning that it’s up to the Ford Transit Connect to defend Ford’s title.

Continued with list of nominees for the 2010 North America Car of the Year after the jump. > More

Porsche ranks second in J.D. Power study of initial quality

In J.D. Power and Associates yearly survey of new car buyers who have owned a 2009 model year vehicle for 90 days, Porsche pulled in a second place ranking with 90 problems per 100 vehicles behind Lexus which had 84 problems per 100 vehicles. Last year Porsche had been ranked number one.

In general domestic manufacturers scored improvements. "Even in the face of unprecedented challenges, the Detroit automakers are keeping their focus on designing and building high-quality vehicles, which is a precondition for long-term success," said David Sargent, vice president of automotive research at J.D. Power and Associates.

Some industry experts take issue with the IQS and its effectiveness in providing meaningful data. For example, the study not only looks at defects (things that should be fixed) but also annoyances (things that must be endured). MINI was slammed one year for having poor cup holders, hardly a deal breaker in most people’s eyes. Jaguar took an elevator ride to the basement this year dropping from 8th to 28th on the weakness of its XF model. Three of the top five issues with the XF included glove-box operation, the fuel-filler flap and customer questions on brake dust.

Whereas Consumer Reports does not allow its test results to be used in advertising, J.D. Power does, so top ranking manufacturers are more than happy to crow about their success, no matter how arbitrary that success might be.

Volkswagen Golf VI named world car of the year

The Volkswagen Golf VI beat out the Ford Fiesta and Toyota IQ for title of World Car of the Year Awarded at the New York Auto Show. In sub-categories, the Nissan GT-R won for Performance WCOTY, the Honda FCX Clarity won for the green car, and the Fiat 500 won for design.

Press release after the jump.

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WCOTY - finalists announced

The New York Auto Show is has an odd placement. By the time of the show, most of the manufacturers have already revealed their big releases for the current year and are waiting for the fall shows (Frankfurt/Paris) to tease the big releases for the next year. So one thing that has become a big deal to come out of the show is the World Car of the Year Awards.

We got the first 11 finalists back in January, and now the jury has narrowed the field to three:
 Ford Fiesta
 Toyota iQ
 Volkswagen Golf VI.

There are also sub-categories, and one that we are particularly interested in are the three finalists for the performance car of the year are: Corvette ZR1, Nissan GT-R and Porsche 911 Carrera. For those who have gone eco-friendly, the finalists for green car are: Honda FCX Clarity, Mitsubishi iMiEV and Toyota iQ. Best design nominations: Citroen C5, Fiat 500 and Jaguar XF.

Winners will be announced April 9th.

Press release after the jump

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TopSpeed Car of the Year 2008

2008 was the year of the car. The cheap speed seemed to be in full effect from 638 hp $106,500 Corvette ZR1s to 265 hp $25,000 Subaru WRXs; Lamborghini seemed to have more versions of vehicles than total production a few decades ago; and although the Nissan GT-R was our favorite last year, we didn’t get our hands on one until this year.

2009 doesn’t look as promising. The global economic meltdown has not just sent domestic automakers running for cover, but also has sent manufacturers worldwide cutting forecasts and/or looking for help. The fast and fun cars that we love usually sell in the smallest numbers and are likely the first to get slashed.

We hope our job of finding the Car of the Year may be as fruitful next year, because this year we had a fine crop to choose from. So let the dissention begin as TopSpeed’s 2008 car of the year is…

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Top Ten Worst Badge Engineering Jobs

Badge engineering is when one company slaps their logo on someone else’s car without changing much else. We’re pretty sure it happens when auto executives go strolling around the auto shows and then say, “Hey, that looks good, can I get one too?” A phrase that works fine when a car exec spots an ice cream cone, but doesn’t work well for car manufacturing.

Sometimes this has worked out fine for auto manufactures (like the Porsche Cayenne/VW Touareg/Audi Q7), and other times are a little half-baked (GM still apologizes for the Cadillac Cimarron.) This list celebrates the latter.

We give leniency for to many of companies who sell the same car under different names to different markets (Daewoo, we’re looking at you.) This list is more about the thinly rebadged for another company, the same company using cars that directly compete, and cars that didn’t need to be repeated. The rules for this one are simple, the car had to be for sale somewhere in the world in 2008 and be another company’s bastard lovechild.

Here is the list (in alphabetical order) of the top ten worst badge engineering jobs for 2008:

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Top Ten Cars That We Won’t Miss

2008 was a tough year for the car industry, and not everyone made it out alive. Some cars will be missed, but these are not them. It’s the top ten mercy kills of 2008.

The rules for this are pretty easy. The car had to be for sale in the U.S. in 2008 but is not around to celebrate 2009.

Here is the list (in alphabetical order) of the top ten cars we won’t miss in 2009:

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Top Ten Cars Not Sold in the U.S.

Merry Christmas. Here are ten cars that you won’t be under the tree this year; it’s the top ten cars not sold in the U.S.

The rules for this one are simple, the car cannot be available for sale in the United States. We do know our readers are international, so its okay for those outside the U.S. to rub it in if you can buy one in your home country. Even better, in the spirit of the giving season, you can make us feel better by sharing cars that you wish were available in your home country.

We’re hopeful that maybe if we’re really, really good, Santa will drop some of the following cars in our driveway next year.

Here is the list (in alphabetical order) of the top ten car not sold in the U.S. of 2008:

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Top Ten Worst Concept Cars of 2008

These are the cars that the executives presenting them couldn’t hide the ‘WTF’ face, and no amount of booth babes could make them attractive. These are the top (bottom) ten worst concept cars of 2008.

Most of these cars made this list because they were ugly. So comment away, because beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

A few made this list because they are utterly useless. That’s a tough distinction to make. Many concept cars are not practical, but some stand out as a complete waste of space.

Just like yesterday’s top ten concept cars, these ten bottom-feeders must have been in an auto show or officially recognized by a car manufacturer in 2008.

So here is the list (in alphabetical order) of the top ten worst concept cars of 2008:

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Top Ten Concept Cars of 2008

Last week was the top ten cars for 2008, but we still want to dream, so these are the top ten concept cars from 2008. The rules for this are much simpler: the car had to be in an auto show or officially recognized by a car manufacturer in 2008.

That leaves a pretty big field still out there so we narrowed it down further by eliminating cars that are have already been altered to their final production form (like the European Ford Focus RS), or cars that were a concept at the beginning of 2008 and are already for sale. As always, write-ins are encouraged (we may even change the list with enough protest.)

So here is the list (in alphabetical order) of the top ten concept cars of 2008:

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