Detroit 2011: Chevy Volt Wins North American Car of the Year, No One Surprised [Video]
To the surprise of absolutely no one, the Chevrolet Volt was awarded the 2011 North American Car of the Year.
“It’s a great honor to be recognized as the North American Car of the Year,” said GM CEO Dan Akerson after being handed the award at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. “Since development began, we believed the Volt had the potential to transform the automotive industry. Today, the Volt is the first electric vehicle to win the prestigious North American Car of the Year award, and the first vehicle ever to receive the industry’s highest automotive, technology, and environmental recognitions.”
Apart for the Volt’s quantum leap in extended drive technology, it represents the new General Motors, recently emerged from bankruptcy and ready to take on the world’s finest yet again.
An American take on the electric car, the Volt delivers electric power for 25 to 50 miles, after which the gasoline engine kicks in to charge the lithium-ion battery pack an enable an additional 300 miles.
The announcement also follows on the heels of the Nissan Leaf (one of the other finalists for the 2011 North American Car of the Year award) being named European Car of the Year.
North American automotive publications have lauded the Volt, with the car recently winning the Motor Trend 2011 Car of the Year, as well as a very long list of other accolades from Popular Science, Car and Driver, Ward’s AutoWorld and the Green Car Journal (2011 Green Car of the Year).
Read AutoGuide’s Review of the 2011 Chevrolet Volt by Clicking Here
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With AutoGuide from its launch, Colum previously acted as Editor-in-Chief of Modified Luxury & Exotics magazine where he became a certifiable car snob driving supercars like the Koenigsegg CCX and racing down the autobahn in anything over 500 hp. Find Colum on <a href="http://www.google.com">Twitter.</a>
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No one was surprised as it was an expected marketing stunt. This is detroit after all.
"No one surprised"??? Have you been on the internet lately other than to post this article. There is a lot of backlash out there. Some think it's absolutely rediculous that this car, as innovative as it may be, could even be in the running since for the vast majority of people it's not even available for sale yet. The Sonata, on the other hand, has sold about a quarter of a million in it's first year of production and offers the customer tremendous fuel economy without the overly expensive technology that drives the Volt. Turbo 47 MPG, Regular 50 MPG and Hybrid not yet announced. (Imperial gallons). The car is stylish, affordable at a starting price of under $20000 US, innovative (check out the Hybrid), reliable and proven. Many journalists awarded full points to the Sonata recognizing it's massive impact on the industry this year. Those that chose the Volt have lost their way I'm afraid and it's terribly unfortunate.