North America's car of the year? It's a Hyundai : News-Record.com : Greensboro & the Triad's most trusted source for local news and analysis

DETROIT (AP) — The Hyundai Elantra edged out the Ford Focus and Volkwagen Passat on Monday to win the 2012 North American Car of the Year award.

The prestigious industry award was announced at the start of the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, which hosts media previews this week and opens to the public on Saturday.

The Land Rover Range Rover Evoque won the North American Truck of the Year, beating the BMW X3 and Honda CR-V. The Evoque, which starts at $43,995, gets an estimated 18 miles per gallon in city driving and 28 mpg on the highway.

Fifty automotive journalists voted on the winning vehicles from a group of finalists, and the vehicles must be all new or substantially changed to be eligible. Organizers accept no advertising, though automakers capitalize on the marketing value of the honors.

John Krafcik, Hyundai's North American CEO, said the award won't help the compact's sales much because the company already is selling as many Elantras as it can make at its factory in Montgomery, Ala. But the award should help solidify the brand's image in the eyes of the American public, especially in the highly competitive compact car segment.

"It should be helpful for our brand going forward," he said.

The Elantra, which starts at $16,445, gets an estimated 33 mpg.

The company is looking at ways to boost production at the Montgomery plant, but Krafcik said Hyundai plans to focus on maintaining quality at the factory before deciding on any increases.

Hyundai sold more than 186,000 Elantras last year, nearly a 41 percent increase over 2010 figures.

EdinNC

January 9, 2012 - 9:56 am EST

Almost all Americans like to complain about those "foreign" cars made in "foreign" countries. And here we go again. This year's award winner is a "foreign" car made in Alabamastan.

January 9, 2012 - 12:14 pm EST

Joel D. Joseph, Chairman of the Made in the USA Foundation, said, “General Motors wants to hide the fact that, even after the government bailout, it has moved production of vehicles offshore. The Cadillac SRX is now made in Mexico. The Buick Regal is made in Germany.” ~ The Truth about Cars - 2011.

77 Hornet

January 9, 2012 - 11:04 am EST

The profits are still going back overseas, even if the car is made in Alabama. Why not buy American brand as well as American made. Just research online where the car is actuallly made. It's not that hard.

thinkingman

January 9, 2012 - 11:16 am EST

Some of the profits may be going overseas, but where are the jobs? Isn't that the point? As compared to many "American" corporations that keep the profits here but outsource the jobs...a lot of good that does for our economy and unemployment rate.

Anyway, I own a Hyundai and have been very happy with the car's performance and the company's service (warranties, etc...). For the price, there was nothing comparable I could have gotten new. My previous cars were both American SUV's...great cars but got them used, and could never have afforded one new. So instead of car payments I got hit with maintenance and poor gas mileage.

tennesseegemini

January 9, 2012 - 11:29 am EST

Amen!!! I purchased a 2011 Hyundai Elantra on 9-30-2011. They told me it would get 40 miles to the gallon, which was a bold faced lie! I had a VW Beatle and wish I still had it!

January 9, 2012 - 5:02 pm EST

Read all of what I said "American branded American made"

goodtoknow

January 9, 2012 - 11:23 am EST

Even some of the parts in American cars are made overseas. Some parts of our airliners are made overseas and the new San Francisco Bridge is made in Chine and shipped in sections to the U.S.
I recently spent a week in the Bahamas and a new resort is being built to compete with Atlantas. The Chinese are building it with 8000 Chinese living on site 24/7. They are even housing prostitutes on site so the Chinese will not go into town.
As for the auto industry, I think it's great that foreign countries come here and create jobs without the unions. Unions only add cost to a product.
The CEO's of Eastman Kodak and General Electric are on the President's jobs panel and those two companies alone have sent 55,000 jobs overseas. U.S. Corporations are overtaxed and over regulated. And in foreign countries they don't have to put up with Unions. Unions were a prime reason for cost savings to have the San Francisco Bridge made in China.

January 9, 2012 - 11:10 am EST

It's a nice looking car and a great price. Made in America but because the corporation is in a foreign country it probably costs less and the fact that it's non union.

beedev

January 9, 2012 - 12:15 pm EST

All Ford Fusions and Lincoln MKZ's are manufactured in Mexico. American cars???

thinker

January 9, 2012 - 1:19 pm EST

It comes down to the fact that people want the best car for the best price. I drive a Honda because it's a great value, most American cars cannot compete. Even with recent improvements in American companies they have a lot of negative stigma associated with their quality. Can you blame people for wanting one of their largest purchases to maximize value for them?

spartan2001

January 9, 2012 - 3:22 pm EST

My 1982 Ford sedan got 33 MPG. What great leaps and bounds the industry has made in 30 years!

johnodrake

January 9, 2012 - 3:41 pm EST

Hyundai is starting to turn some heads.....

awsmview

January 9, 2012 - 4:51 pm EST

Own a 2011 Hyundai Elantra Limited made in Alabama. Often get 40 mpg driving the speed limit.
Drove her to Indiana doing 80 mph for a extended period of time, still got 37mpg.
Very pleased with this car and it's performance.

January 9, 2012 - 5:05 pm EST

I give up. I'm tired of arguing with so-called Americans about buying stuff made here. Use just a small portion of your brain and compare what things were like before it was a "Global Economy"

Copper1

January 9, 2012 - 8:10 pm EST

As someone who purchased many GM's ( government Motors) over the years, my next car will be a Hyundai.

January 9, 2012 - 8:52 pm EST

Interior build quality any better with new Hyundais? Rented an '08 or '09 Sonata once and everything was cheap plastic. Attempted to adjust armrest, not realizing that it was not adjustable. Result was as though I were the Incredible Hulk - ripped the entire armrest from its base.

January 9, 2012 - 8:58 pm EST

Ford took no government money, so they deserve consideration.

histrion

January 9, 2012 - 9:13 pm EST

Buy American just because it's American? Oh, yeah: There's free-market capitalism for you. We used to buy American because it was the best quality for the best price. That's often no longer the case. Buying American just to buy American does nothing but feed a failed system. American manufacturers have to learn to be competitive again. Unions have to learn that we're in a fight for survival and act like it instead of lying to their membership (I think they're finally starting to get a clue). American colleges and universities need to turn out more and better automotive and industrial engineers. It's a systemic problem, and we need a systemic solution.

InventorNC

January 9, 2012 - 11:30 pm EST

The system is called pay. Offer the pay and the people will come. That's capitalism - that's what made America great!

Waiting around for government to do something is just plain stupid. That's not the way to do it. Never was, never will be.

Unions? Ask the unemployed steelworkers how far those outlandish union wages got them. All the way down the street to the unemployment office is where. And the union checkoff? That's good for the unions and no one else.

Government is the source of the problem, not the answer. Never was, never will be. When are we going to learn!

January 9, 2012 - 11:03 pm EST

I would like to see the accident statistics for these light cars. Not accidents in a lab but real life accidents.

You don't get high mileage with heavy cars. Locally, news reports show the lightweight vehicles don't protect the occupants. Probably the same across the country.

January 9, 2012 - 11:15 pm EST

Let me see. Put the steel mill down on Franklin Street here and the auto assembly plant up a bit further - next to the hotel. And the fat rendering plant next to the UNC-CH Hospital.

Let's remember that China is buying a whole lot from the US.

Also, the US has had three times of serious dislocation of jobs. EVERY time the labor force ended up making more doing less dangerous and tedious work than before. Let's face it, furniture and textiles were not sources of high paying jobs.

It aint a one way street folks!

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