The annual North American Car and Truck of the Year awards has just released its short list for 2012, selecting 17 cars and seven trucks that will compete for the prestigious prize.

In the running for the 2012 North American Car of the Year are three from Hyundai (the Accent, Elantra and Veloster), two from Audi (A6 and A7), two from Volkswagen (Passat and Beetle) and two from Toyota (Camry and Prius v). Others on the list include two GM models, the Buick Verano and Chevrolet Sonic, while two Chrysler group nominees include the Chrysler 300 and Fiat 500. Rounding out the list is the Ford Focus, Kia Rio, Scion iQ and Subaru Impreza. Notably absent from the list is the all-new Honda Civic.

The 2012 North American Truck of the Year short list includes just one vehicle from seven different automakers: the BMW X3, Honda CR-V, Land Rover Range Rover Evoque, Mercedes M-Class, MINI Countryman, Nissan Quest and Saab 9-4X.

The three finalists in each category will be announced later this year with the winners being announced at the Detroit Auto Show in January. Last year the Chevrolet Volt took home 2011 Car of the Year, with the Ford Explorer as 2011 Truck of the Year.

See the full list of nominees after the jump:

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Drumroll, please…the three finalists for the overall 2011 World Car of the Year are the 2011 Audi A8, the BMW 5 Series and the Nissan Leaf.

The three performance car finalists chosen are the Ferrari 458 Italia, the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG and the Porsche 911 Turbo. Competing for the spot of Green Car of the Year are the Nissan Leaf, Chevrolet Volt and the BMW 320d EfficientDynamics Edition, and competing in the category of design are the Aston Martin Rapide, Alfa Romeo Giulietta and the Ferrari 458 Italia.

The three cars were whittled down from a list of 39, and announced at Geneva this week. The winners will be chosen on April 21st when the New York Auto Show rolls around. Stay tuned.

The Nissan Leaf has just received the Car of the Year award in Europe and is the first electric car to have ever been given the prestigious title. This award will certainly help build anticipation for the World Car of the Year awards, held each year at the New York Auto Show.

Up until now the car’s main rival, the Chevy Volt, has been cleaning up in the North American awards categories, recently taking Motor Trend and Automobile Magazine‘s Car of the Year title as well as the Green Car Journal’s Green Car of the Year award. The Volt is also in the running for the North American Car of the Year, which will be announced at the Detroit Auto Show in January.

The Leaf’s win was not without controversy, however, with several European journalists sitting on the jury placing the car last. The runner up for the European Car of the Year title was the Alfa Romeo Giulietta followed by the Vauxhall/Opel Meriva.

The European Car of the Year title is decided on by 59 jury members in 23 countries.

[Source: AutoCar]

The Ford Transit Connect has been named North American Truck of the Year, beating out the other two finalists, the Chevrolet Equinox and the Subaru Outback.

The announcement kicked off the festivities at the 2010 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The Ford Transit Connect was selected by a panel of 49 journalists from the United States and Canada.

Designed to fill the needs of small businesses owners and entrepreneurs, the Ford Transit Connect is powered by a 2.0L inline-four engine with four-speed automatic transmission. Ford claims the Transit Connect gets double the fuel economy of full-sized vans with 22 mpg in the city and 25 mpg on the highway.

The Ford Transit Connect has a cargo payload of 1,600 lb. and features an in-dash computer with high-speed Internet, Tool Link radio-frequency identification tracking and Crew Chief fleet tracking and diagnostic system.

Ford trucks have now won the award six times, most recently in 2009 with the Ford F-150. The Ford Fusion Hybrid also won North American Car of the Year, marking the third time a manufacturer swept both awards in a single year.

“Winning both of these prestigious awards is confirmation that the ONE Ford plan is working, delivering industry-leading products for our customers,” said Mark Fields, president of The Americas.

Domestic automakers have now won North American Truck of the Year 11 times in 17 years.

Gallery: Ford Transit Connect, North American Truck of the Year

***See AutoGuide’s LIVE 2010 Detroit Auto Show Coverage Here***

The short list for North American Car & Truck of the Year just got a lot shorter and the list of finalists includes one GM product and one Ford product in each category. The three finalists for 2010 North American Car of the Year include the Ford Fusion Hybrid, Buick LaCrosse and Volkswagen Golf. As for Truck of the Year, the three nods go to the Ford Transit Connect, the Chevrolet Equinox and Subaru Outback.

The winner will be announced at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit on January 11th. The North American Car & Truck of the Year is decided by a panel of 49 journalists from both the U.S. and Canada.

Last year the winners included the Hyundai Genesis and Ford F-150, marking the first time a Korean automaker had won Car of the Year. Domestics have won Car of the Year eight times, with European countries taking the award four times and the Japanese three times. Truck of the year has long been dominated by domestic automakers, taking the award 10 times, compared to four for the Japanese and two for the Europeans.

AutoGuide will be covering the 2010 North American Car & Truck of the Year awards live at the Detroit Auto Show starting January 11th.

[Source: Automotive News]