Chevy Malibu, Mazda CX-9 Win Auto Awards

GM Had Four Of Six Finalists For Honors At This Year's Detroit Auto Show

(AP)  The Chevrolet Malibu and the Mazda CX-9 were chosen as the car and truck of the year at the North American International Auto Show.

The awards were presented Sunday, the first day of media previews for the show. It opens to the public on Saturday.

It was the second major award for the CX-9 crossover, which was named Motor Trend's 2008 sport utility of the year in October.

"The CX-9 was designed for North America, and I think the award is recognition that the team delivered on the promise," Mazda Executive Vice President Robert Graziano said.

Bob Lutz, General Motors Corp.'s vice chairman of product development, said GM is rapidly trying to add more production capacity to keep up with demand for the Malibu.

"It's gone way beyond our expectations," he said.

Four of the six finalists for the awards were GM products.

The Malibu, Cadillac CTS and Honda Accord were finalists for car of the year, while the CX-9, the Buick Enclave and Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid were finalists for truck of the year.

GM was a double winner in 2007, while Honda Motor Co. captured both honors the year before.

To be considered for the coveted honor, which often is used in automakers' advertising, vehicles must be new or substantially changed from the previous model. More than 50 new vehicles were eligible this year, but jurors winnowed that list to 15 cars and 13 trucks.

The winners were selected by a jury of 46 automotive journalists from the United States and Canada. Jurors consider a variety of factors, including innovation, design, safety, handling, driver satisfaction and value.

The North American honors have been given annually since 1994.

[jaykay3141]

I''m sick and tired of super-patriots saying that we should accept second rate products just to prove we are Americans. Detroit let itself get fat, dumb and happy while Japan and Europe went from building tin cans on wheels to making cars that get better mileage and last longer. We owned LOTS of American cars - Chryslers, Dodges, Buicks, Chevrolets - and I''d be first in line when the industry gets its act together. But instead, GM and Ford are still pushing gas-guzzling Suburban Useless Vehicles while Chrysler makes plastic cars aimed at pubescent 14-year-olds. The last Chevy I had lasted 57K miles when the drive train failed, the body rusted out and the A/C compressor flew apart. The one before that ground its tranny to metal chowder inside. Both cars had regular maintenance and average driving conditions. There''ve also been 2 Hondas and a Toyota in the family each of which lasted more than a decade with 30+ mpg and maybe $200-$400/yr in repairs.

The essence of capitalism is that if someone else does a job better than you, you''d better get your own act together, not just whine and wave the flag.

[bubba027]

I don''t work in the auto industry or a factory of any type. American-made cars are of acceptable quality and cost. Those of you who don''t make an effort to buy American, regardless of the product, are the ones ruining America. When you spend money in American it multiplies many times over. When you spend it in another county it''s gone. Blaming Bush or any other president doesn''t resolve the problem. This problem has been going on for several decades. When all the American factories are gone, America will no longer have any means to produce the materials, machinery, and weapons it took to save us and much of the world from defeat and slavery in World War II. You may know cars, but you aren''t a very good student of History. Go back to school. So when America inevitably falls to its many enemies and you or your children are slaves, I home you are content with yourself because you always bought foreign products and was such a smart and frugal consumer.

[brianbwb-2009]

Who cares? Only an idiot would go into debt to buy something that''''s going to be relatively worthless by the time it''''s paid off..." Posted by lexluthor5

Relatively? Of truth it is worthless by the time you drive it off the lot, because it''s resale value is already down to max70%. After the first oil change it is 50%, by the time you finally pay off the loan sharks, you almost have to pay to get rid of it.

[b0ludo]

You lousy excuses for an American actually pride yourselves in not buying American cars and are willing to sell out American auto workers just so you don''t have to visit the dealer to fix a small noise? You ought to be ashamed of yourselves. You have no right to complain about our economy, our unemployment or our trade imbalance if you drive anything other than a Ford, Chryco or GM vehicle. Take a look at the quality surveys over the last couple of years... Our boys are back at the top of the list. Oh, that is right, you guys are like Bush and don''t read newspapers :-) By the way, a 2001 Mustang GT and a seven-year-old Taurus grace my driveway and they have held up a heck of a lot better than my neighbor''s Mitsubishi.

[jaykay3141]

Hey, the foreign manufacturers have figured out just as much as GM and Co. that Americans''ll plunk down big bucks for any bloated, ugly krapmobile so long as it''s pushed as NEW and DIFFERENT. My neighbors gotta-wanta-hadta buy a blobby, mis-shapen Murano ''cause it "stands out". But what they got was a lump of metal that they can''t see out of when backing up, holds maybe a couple of picnic coolers if you squeeze ''em tight, and gets about 18 mpg. Another neighbor shelled out 30-some grand for a hunched-over, steroidal Infiniti FX and drives around looking like they own Popular Mechanics'' Car of The Future - for 1947!

They''ve got us down good. Can you spell S-H-E-E-P, boys and girls?

[mcv57]

"Jurors consider a variety of factors, including innovation, design, safety, handling, driver satisfaction and value."

Haven''t you notice folks, that this award mentions nothing about reliability, quality, superior engineering. American automakers are still playing on the ignorance of the public.

[rushlimpdrug]

"The CX-9 was designed for North America, and I think the award is recognition that the team delivered on the promise," Mazda Executive Vice President Robert Graziano said.

Is this guy talking about the krappy looking car in the "photo"?
That is soooo funny!
I can''t stop laughing about how skrewed up that car looks.
People buying that krap deserve to go through the punishment of making payments on something like that.

[olebd]

I''d like them to put 100,000 miles on each of these vehicles before handing out awards. The last GM I owned was in 1986 and by 1991, it was falling apart, the paint was flaking off, the doors were rusting in their corners. I recently looked at a GMC 2500 pickup. I could not believe how thin the sheet metal was. And the rear fender wells had no lining, it was painted metal. I''m sure rocks would beat this supposed "Heavy Duty" truck up quickly.

[jaykay3141]

Not just foxes in henhouses but the blind leading the blind! The CX-9 looks as if someone sliced the top 25% off a car and grafted it onto a truck body, then put a lift kit under the rear. When are the designers going to get off this "me-too" kick of producing vehicle after vehicle that looks like a pregnant roller skate or an industrial vacuum cleaner? Give me a sporty, stylish car that isn''t so high off the ground I need steps to climb in, that doesn''t have a pointed, snarly-face grille, and that has rear windows that are larger than a postcard so I can see to back up. Then maybe I''ll get out my checkbook.

[rushlimpdrug]

What the helll is a chevy malibu ?

Yeah, like I''m gonna jump into my car and go buy one of these "gems".
Fat chance.
I stopped buying American Krap a looong time ago.
Does chevy still make the Vega?
Does ford still make the pinto?