The North American Car of the Year award winners were announced on January 11 at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. This year’s winners were the 2011 Chevrolet Volt for cars and the 2011 Ford Explorer for the truck category. It is the fourth time General Motors has won this award, and it is Ford’s second year in a row for winning the truck category.

The three finalists in the car category were the extended-range hybrid Chevrolet Volt, the plug-in, all-electric Nissan LEAF and the Hyundai Sonata as a conventional or hybrid sedan.

2011 North American Car of the Year - Chevrolet Volt

In the truck segment, the Ford Explorer, Jeep Grand Cherokee, and Dodge Durango were the three finalists.

2011 Truck of the Year - Ford Explorer

In order to be considered for this award a car must be all new like the Chevy Volt and Nissan LEAF or “substantially” changed from previous years like the Sonata and Explorer. The cars were chosen from a sample of 27 and the trucks from 14.

This award is unique because instead of being selected from a single media outlet they are chosen from a team of automotive journalists from the U.S. and Canada. The award is designed to recognize a vehicle that is the most outstanding of the year. These vehicles are industry leaders in innovation, design, handling, driver satisfaction, safety and value.

In the history of these awards, domestic automakers have won Car of the Year honors 10 of the last 18 years. European automakers have won four times, Japanese automakers have won three times, and a Korean automaker has won once.  Domestic automakers have also won Truck of the Year 12 of the last 18 years.

Last year’s winners were the Ford Fusion Hybrid as Car of the Year and the Ford Transit Connect as Truck of the Year.