NAIAS: 2015 North American Car and Truck of the Year Winners Announced

3368 Views 25 Replies 19 Participants Last post by gopedxr7, Jan 13, 2015

Envoy4Life

Discussion Starter · Jan 12, 2015

Golf scored 256 points, F-150 grabbed 297 points
World Car Fans
By: Adrian Padeanu
January 12, 2015

The Volkswagen Golf & Golf GTI has won the 2015 North American Car of the Year title while the Ford F-150 triumphed in the truck/utility category.

The winners were announced on the dawn of the North American International Auto Show in Detroit (NAIAS) and the Volkswagen Golf & Golf GTI took top spot in the car category after grabbing 256 points. In second place came the Ford Mustang with 204 points and was followed at a considerable distance by the Hyundai Genesis with 110 points.

The aluminum-bodied 2015 Ford F-150 took first place in the truck/utility category after securing 297 points, way more than the Chevrolet Colorado which came in second with 205 points. The final spot on the podium was occupied by the Lincoln MKC with 68 points.

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1 - 20 of 26 Posts

Envoy4Life

Discussion Starter · #2 · Jan 12, 2015

Deserving win by the F-150, but I think the Mustang should have won COTY instead of the Golf. I guess a Ford sweep didn't sit well with them?

KingElvis

· #3 · Jan 12, 2015

Lincoln getting the Rodney Dangerfield treatment.

Ford 150 is probably deserving just for sea change in industrial processes.

Reactions: 1

Pisswilly

· #4 · Jan 12, 2015

F-150, eh

Reactions: 1

NeverEnough

· #5 · Jan 12, 2015

The Golf? The G O L F?

What in god's name am I missing about that POS. 90's styling inside and out...must have a flux capacitor for an engine. Or be $9995 before destination charges.

Reactions: 2

BlackGTP

· #6 · Jan 12, 2015

Good for Ford! Not really a surprise either. The VW is a surprise - kind of like the Academy awards with some movie no one has ever seen wins. I know the VW is held in high regards in the automotive press, but the reality is they don't really sell well.

Reactions: 2

Dequindre

· #7 · Jan 12, 2015

BlackGTP said:
Good for Ford! Not really a surprise either. The VW is a surprise - kind of like the Academy awards with some movie no one has ever seen wins. I know the VW is held in high regards in the automotive press, but the reality is they don't really sell well.

I never understood the Golf love either. I usually glance over Golf articles in automotive magazines.

roy219

· #8 · Jan 12, 2015

Envoy4Life said:
Deserving win by the F-150, but I think the Mustang should have won COTY instead of the Golf. I guess a Ford sweep didn't sit well with them?

Mustang, while a competent product, doesn't set a new benchmark in its class the way Golf/GTI does.

Actually, neither does F-150. As KingElvis noted however, novel processes for manufacturing this high volume vehicle could ostensibly provide justification for the truck award, even though Chevrolet Colorado makes a more compelling case when it comes solely to product attributes.

Reactions: 1

roy219

· #9 · Jan 12, 2015

KingElvis said:
Lincoln getting the Rodney Dangerfield treatment.

The fact that the insipid MKC received any votes at all is noteworthy!

Reactions: 1

steve333

· #10 · Jan 12, 2015

Man, that F-150 is ugly. I wanted to see the Colorado win. I figured the Golf would win for cars, compared to others in the class it feels more expensive than it is. Now, about reliability........

Reactions: 1

Envoy4Life

Discussion Starter · #11 · Jan 12, 2015

roy219 said:
Mustang, while a competent product, doesn't set a new benchmark in its class the way Golf/GTI does.

Actually, neither does F-150. As KingElvis noted however, novel processes for manufacturing this high volume vehicle could ostensibly provide justification for the truck award, even though Chevrolet Colorado makes a more compelling case when it comes solely to product attributes.

What does the Golf set benchmark wise, exactly? Maybe I'm being dense, but I fail to see why everyone thinks of the Golf so highly.

Reactions: 1

roy219

· #12 · Jan 12, 2015

steve333 said:
Now, about reliability........

According to Consumer Reports' latest automotive reliability survey, all gasoline and diesel powered Rabbit and Golf models with sufficient data rated better than average since model year 2007 for the most part. No model year was worse than average.

roy219

· #13 · Jan 12, 2015

Envoy4Life said:
What does the Golf set benchmark wise, exactly? Maybe I'm being dense, but I fail to see why everyone thinks of the Golf so highly.

If you have the opportunity, test drive a Golf "Launch Edition" (the lowest priced variant in the U.S. market) and then test drive competitive C-segment vehicles at the same price point.

MQB Golf's powertrain, chassis, interior quality, ergonomics, seat comfort, and outward visibility are all top notch. The best way to describe why this VW received so many plaudits is that it feels like an automobile an entire class above (or maybe even two) its customary segment.

Reactions: 2

tnmats

· #14 · Jan 12, 2015

roy219 said:
According to Consumer Reports' latest automotive reliability survey, all gasoline and diesel powered Rabbit and Golf models with sufficient data rated better than average since model year 2007 for the most part. No model year was worse than average.

According to JD Powers, the 2014 model's reliability is middling at best and predicted to be worse than average:

http://autos.jdpower.com/research/Volkswagen/Golf/2014/Hatchback/index.htm

Based on the 2014 Jettas I've driven I do not understand the interest in VW. Decent handling and nice engine but mediocre (to lousy) fuel economy with cheap looking interiors and bland-as-can-be exterior styling.

Reactions: 1

sepi

· #15 · Jan 12, 2015

The car was up for grabs. The truck had no competition. Motor Trend can fabricate a winner but there is only one true truck and Ford builds it.

The Jetta and all Volks and Audi products have an effective life of 40k miles. After that the gremlins come out and consume your wallet.

steve333

· #16 · Jan 12, 2015

Envoy4Life said:
What does the Golf set benchmark wise, exactly? Maybe I'm being dense, but I fail to see why everyone thinks of the Golf so highly.

I test drove the Golf, Cruze, Mazda 3, Subaru Impreza, Ford Focus, Kia Forte before deciding on the 3.
The Golf had seats way better than any in the class, the suspension felt higher quality than the rest (the Cruze was also good). I decided against it because the interior smelled awful because of the soft plastic dash. I detected it in a used Golf as well.

roy219 said:
According to Consumer Reports' latest automotive reliability survey, all gasoline and diesel powered Rabbit and Golf models with sufficient data rated better than average since model year 2007 for the most part. No model year was worse than average.

The new Golf is made in Mexico, previous Golf was made in Germany, which is why it was more reliable than the Jetta and the only VW I considered. Will the Golf now fall out of CR recommendations because of that? Time will tell but it doesn't bode well for them.

Reactions: 1

megeebee

· #17 · Jan 12, 2015

Congratulations to Ford.

The F150 represents a huge investment in engineering and planning. Personally, I think it will pay off handsomely for Ford.

The Golf? Well, they liked it enough and it got all those "points", so.........whatever.

Awards like this are good marketing material for automakers, but it doesn't always result in increased sales.

SS1LE02

· #18 · Jan 12, 2015

steve333 said:
Man, that F-150 is ugly. I wanted to see the Colorado win. I figured the Golf would win for cars, compared to others in the class it feels more expensive than it is. Now, about reliability........

Couldn't agree more. Somehow it got even uglier.

1958carnut

· #19 · Jan 12, 2015 (Edited)

I don't agree with either choice, but then who am I to say. Hint: just a lowly GMI'er with an opinion.

bone

· #20 · Jan 12, 2015

In an earlier post I predicted the F-150 and Golf to win. No surprise to me. The Ford is very revolutionary and the Golf is simply much superior to any of its competitors. What award has it not won?

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