The new generation Honda Civic swept past other new vehicles to win the Car of the Year Award. The Honda Ridgeline truck was chosen Truck of the Year.
How Winners are Chosen
Forty-five full-time automotive journalists first narrowed down the field to fourteen cars and fourteen trucks that were redesigned and launched in 2005. Each journalist had 25 points to spread out among the cars and 25 more to spread among trucks, but each person could only award a maximum of 10 points to any one vehicle.The journalists give points to the vehicles they believe are the most outstanding of the year and base their votes on many qualities, such as innovation, design, safety, handling, driver satisfaction and value for the dollar.
The top three vehicles in each category were announced in December, 2005:
Trucks
- Ford Explorer
- Honda Ridgeline
- Nissan Xterra
Cars
- Ford Fusion
- Honda Civic
- Pontiac Solstice
Awards are announced each year at the Detroit show, but the contest is sponsored by automotive journalists and is not a NAIAS program.
