50 US and Canadian automotive journalist will decide which is the truck and car of the year 2012 for the north American market. The winners will be announced at the Detroit Motor Show in January 2012.
There is no Saab among the 17 nominees for the Car of the Year prize, but the Saab 9-4X has managed to enter the list of 7 nominees for the Truck of the Year prize.
- BMW X3
- Honda CR-V
- Land Rover Range Rover Evoque
- Mercedes-Benz M-Class
- Mini Countryman
- Nissan Quest
- Saab 9-4X
I don’t know how good are the chances for Saab to win that prize, as some of the contenders are also very good cars, so lets keep our finger crossed.
BTW, what is the American definition of truck. I mean, the Countryman do not really fits in that list, does it?
*UPDATE*
From the NACTOY site you can see that this already the short list. So the 9-4x is not in the list only because its a new truck.
And looking at the winners of the previous years, it is not bad that the 9-4x has the most US genes in that list. 😉
Source: Motortrend, Teknikens Värld
And thank you to lala for the hint.
There’s a chance that the Saab could win… The only real competition it has is the Evoque. But… That car is also massively expensive. Who knows! We’ll find out soon enough. It’s interesting to note that the Cadillac cousin didn’t make its way to the list.
Jake, agree with you Evoque is the one to beat….it’ll be hard as the RR has celebrity status!
I’m guessing the Caddy would have been a contender 1 or 2 years ago when it was launched?
I think it was… I think it may have won, too, but that’s only off the top of my head.
Jake, the Caddy has never been among the three finalists, and was also not in the short list last year.
*UPDATE*
The Caddy was in the shortlist for the 2010 award, but it did not manage to be one of the 3 finalists.
Thanks for the clarification, Red J! 🙂
Well I guess the 9-4x is a more pleasant vehicle than the SRX.
This is extraordinary. Journalists are really backing Saab. By sales numbers, Saab is a boutique carmaker like Maserati or Lotus. It is really great when they get the opportunity to stay in the mainstream. This promises a return to mainstream sales, if Saab can arrange its affairs and market posture to make it possible.
Yes, you are right, Jim. This is extraordinary and the simple fact that we made this short list is an amazing statement given our bad press.
I encourage everyone with an online voice (blogs, twitter, FB, etc) to broadcast this accomplishment. If we win, the news will be fantastic but if we don’t, it’s great to have made the list.
SU, please keep this toward the front if at all possible.
AJM
We should assume that the RR will win. So we should follow plan B immediately, not wait for the announcement before starting to tout the achievement of being on the list in the first place.
The Saab will not win, it’s gotten good reviews but they all point out that it’s an improved SRX and to win the award the car in question needs to be a game changer or something completely new to the market, the 9-4x is not either of those with the Caddy being out for several years. BUT that doesn’t mean that it’s not a great car, getting on the list is a great achievement and it no doubt gives the 9-4X needed publicity.
Then what will win out of this list? The 9-4X seems like one of the best cars on that particular list.
It’s one of the best but it’s not THE best and most importantly it’s not the most innovative as the technology under the body has essentially been out for several years. It’s a great car but it doesn’t raise the bar for the industry and that’s what they are looking for. If I had to pick a winnder, I’d say, the new CR-V, which none of us have seen but they have, or maybe the Range Rover or the Mini. Saab isn’t going to be winning these kinds of awards until they are introducing cars with tech and platforms that can’t be found on other GM products.
Knowing Honda these days, the CR-V won’t be at all spectacular-rather, ordinary. And we actually have seen in. I get the AutoBlog RSS feed, and the articles on the CR-V show it to look like a facelift, and the technology used in it isn’t at all outstanding whatsoever.
The Range Rover has a celebrity status, and while it’s a good car, it’s also ridiculously overpriced.
The Mini isn’t really a new segment… It’s just a weirder, more bloated, non-mini Mini with optional all wheel drive. It’s not exactly new; it’s just been missing from Minis for a long time. The Juke shares the segment, and I see many more Jukes, which are more unique than the countryman on the roads here.
The 9-4X isn’t anything new, but considering it’s a more Saab-like version of the SRX, which is still a very good car, it has appeal. It’s also the car that can journalists can root for, because who doesn’t like to root for the underdog?
While I agree that the 9-4X most likely won’t win, it has a very good chance at being in the top 3. But considering that we’re both on SU, we can both at least root for the 9-4X, right? 😀
Hey, fingers are definitely crossed for the 9-4x, no arguments there. 🙂
Interesting to see that Subaru Outback came in as third in 2010´s list of TRUCKS?
I wouldnt consider Subaru Outback to be a truck. Its a car to me.
Ive had two Subarus. One Legacy -04, and one Outback -07. Great cars. Awd and AT at a very nice price. Todays Leg/Outb lacks good design though.
I wish Saab could refrain from the Premium trend and just make nice, smart and good looking cars to a lower price than today.