The 2011 Chevrolet Volt got another marketing jolt Monday, when it received North American Car of the Year honours.
The car that runs on electricity for 65 kilometres before a backup gas engine kicks in beat out the Nissan Leaf, another electric, and Hyundai Sonata in the annual ceremony on the first day of media previews for the Detroit Auto Show.
The Ford Explorer won the truck of the year, the third year in a row the Dearborn-based automaker nabbed the honour. Truck finalists were the Dodge Durango, the Explorer and Jeep Grand Cherokee.
Forty-nine auto journalists from the U.S. and Canada made the picks. The vehicles are judged on innovation, design, safety, handling, driver satisfaction and value.
It’s the latest in a string of accolades for the Volt, which went on sale in limited markets in December and costs US$40,280. It was named the Green Car of the Year at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November and Motor Trend and Automobile Magazine named the Volt the 2011 car of the year the same month.
General Motors Co. vice-chairman Tom Stephens said the Volt “represents the soul” of the new GM, on the rebound after enduring a government-led bankruptcy in 2009. GM sold between 250 and 350 Chevy Volts in December and Nissan’s sales totalled less than 10 Leaf sedans in the past two weeks. Production for both is slowly ramping up.
It will be well into 2012 before both the Volt and Leaf, which costs $32,780, are available countrywide. Early demand is strong: About 50,000 people are already on waiting lists.
GM predicts it will sell 10,000 Volts in 2011 and between 35,000 and 45,000 in 2012. By way of comparison, Chevrolet sold 187,250 Malibu sedans in the first 11 months of 2010 with sticker prices that start at $21,975.
Stephens said the Volt is not a “science experiment” but “meant to be a high-volume vehicle” as the industry makes early moves beyond petroleum as a primary fuel source.
Last year’s winners were both Ford vehicles: the Fusion Hybrid midsize sedan and Ford Transit Connect.
