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GM Repeats With Car-of-the-Year Honors at Detroit Auto Show

DETROIT – General Motors took car-of-the-year honors at the Detroit Auto Show for the second straight year. Mazda's CX-9 SUV was named truck of the year.

by Staff
January 15, 2008
1 min to read


DETROIT – General Motors took Car-of-the-Year honors at the Detroit Auto Show for the second straight year, according to Reuters. The Chevrolet Malibu was named the 2008 North American Car of the Year. Mazda Motor Corp’s CX-9 SUV was named truck of the year.

The awards were presented by a panel of 45 automotive journalists and presented at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

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GM won both car and truck honors at the 2007 show and had a chance to repeat this year. The No. 1 U.S. automaker had four of the six finalists in both categories.

Trailing the Malibu (190 points) were GM’s Cadillac CTS (165 points) and the Honda Accord (95 points). The Mazda SUV finished with 201 votes, topping GM’s Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid (140 points) and Buick Enclave (109 points).

Last year, GM’s Saturn Aura won the car award, while the Chevy Silverado pickup won truck honors. This year was the 15th year for the awards.


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