(December 10, 2014) DETROIT — The three finalists for the 2015 North American Car of the Year are the Ford Mustang, Hyundai Genesis and the Volkswagen Golf, TDI and GTI. The three finalists for the 2015 North American Truck/Utility of the Year are the Ford F-150, Chevrolet Colorado and the Lincoln MKC.

The names were disclosed Tuesday at news conference in Detroit when Denny Moyer, a partner at Deloitte & Touche, handed over the names to Mark Phelan, the automotive critic for the Detroit Free Press and a member of the NACTOY jury.

The awards, now in their 22nd year, are designed to honor new benchmarks in their automotive segments in areas ranging from design and safety to innovation and value for the dollar.

Fifty-seven jurors from newspapers, television and radio stations, magazines and websites voted last week, sending their ballots to Deloitte, which kept the finalists secret until today.

The winners will be announced at the North American International Auto Show on Jan. 12.

Last year's North American Car of the Year was the Corvette Stingray. In the last 21 years domestic automakers have won 12 times and foreign automakers have won the car category nine times. Japanese automakers have three wins. European automakers have four wins. Korean automakers (Hyundai) have two wins.

Last year's North American Truck/Utility of the Year was the Chevrolet Silverado. Domestics have won the truck competition 14 times. Foreign automakers have won seven times. Of the seven wins, Japanese automakers have won four times and Europeans have won three times.