(January 14, 2019) DETROIT — Hyundai Motor Group won two of the three categories in the North American Car, Truck and Utility of the Year competition announced this morning at the opening of the 2019 North American International Auto Show.

The South Korean automotive company won Car of the Year with the Genesis G70 and the Utility of the Year with the Hyundai Kona. The all-new Ram 1500 continued to amass awards winning the Truck of the Year category.

This year's winners were selected by a jury of 60 American and Canadian automotive journalists from a group of three finalists in each category. A vehicle must have been redesigned or significantly changed to be eligible for the award.


2019 Genesis G70

2019 Ram 1500


2019 Hyundai Kona

The Genesis G70 beat the Honda Insight and Volvo S60. This is the second win in the car category for Hyundai Motor Group, which won with the Hyundai Genesis in 2009. In 2017, its G90 was a finalist but lost to the Chevrolet Bolt.

The Ram 1500 surpassed the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and the GMC Sierra 1500. Only three vehicles were eligible for the truck segment, so by default, all three became finalists. Even though the Silverado, Sierra and Ram were all redesigned this year, the media lavishly praised the Ram for its interior.

The Hyundai Kona beat out the Acura RDX and Jaguar I-Pace for Utility of the Year. This is the fourth year of the utility category — previously crossovers, SUVs and minivans competed in the truck category. It's also the first time two electric vehicles — the Jaguar I-Pace and Hyundai Kona — competed in the mix.

Vehicles are judged on several categories including innovation, design, safety, performance, technology, value and driver satisfaction. Winners were selected in a third elimination stage.

The three finalists in each category were chosen from a list of 14 cars, 12 utilities and three trucks in November. Models on that short list were narrowed down from a list of 47, which consisted of 23 cars, 21 SUVs and three trucks.

The Audi A6, Buick Regal Tour X, Hyundai Veloster, Kia Forte, Mazda6, Mercedes-Benz A class, Nissan Altima, Nissan Leaf, Toyota Avalon, Toyota Corolla Hatchback and Volkswagen Jetta were the other cars on the short list.

Other eligible utilities were the BMW X5, Cadillac XT4, Hyundai Santa Fe, Infiniti QX50, Jeep Wrangler, Nissan Kicks, Subaru Ascent, Toyota RAV4 and Volvo XC40.

Source: Automotive News