“NACTOY's New Day?” (#1502)

Synopsis

Marty Padgett, High Gear Media, Eddie Alterman, Car and Driver. Topic: North American Car of the Year Finalists.

Since 1994, the first awarding of the North American Car of the Year, there has been a parade each year of three finalists with one winner. Amid the 48 contenders and 16 eventual winners with their sleek designs and top-notch engineering there's been only one car that many observers considered a gateway to the 21st Century, and that was the Toyota Prius Hybrid. Well, it may be 11 years later but welcome to the 21st Century.

This year the more than 50 jurors of the North American Car of the Year chose not just one but two ground-breaking finalists by adding both the Chevy Volt plug-in and Nissan's Electric LEAF to its final three. But let's not forget the third member of the COY finalists, Hyundai's hot-selling Sonata, with its more standard internal combustion engine which received review after glowing review throughout 2010.

On this week's Autoline, NACTOY founding member John McElroy is joined by two of his fellow jurors, Eddie Alterman from Car & Driver and Marty Padgett from High Gear Media, as they discuss all three finalists, what they mean to the auto industry and who they each believe will be the 2011 North American Car of the Year.