(July 29, 2013) The long list for the 2014 North American Car and Truck of the Year awards has been announced and contains 47 vehicles, 29 in the car category and 18 in the truck category. Over the next few months the lists will be paired down until three remain in each category. The winners will be announced at the 2014 North American International Auto Show in Detroit in January.

The "truck" award has become a misnomer over the last few years and includes everything from small crossover vehicles to large body-on-frame pickups. For instance, this year the category includes the new Chevrolet Silverado and Ram 2500/3500 competing against such vehicles as the car-like Buick Encore and the BMW X5.

There's also a big variance in the type of cars in the competition this year ranging from very small electric options like the Smart ForTwo Electric and the Chevy Spark EV up to large sedans like the new Chevrolet Impala and the Mercedes Benz S-Class.

Japanese automakers have the most vehicles on the car list with nine nominees, German cars rank second with seven entries on the list. American automakers are third with six nominees — all six from General Motors. Korean automaker Kia accounts for three of the vehicles on the list while Italian automaker Fiat rings in with two. There is also a sole British car with the inclusion of a Jaguar.

Over in the truck/utility segment there are only five actual pickup trucks on the list of 19 prospective winners. Japanese automakers comprise almost half of the field with nine entries. American automakers have six vehicles with three SUVs and three pickups, there are two Korean SUVs, one German SUV and the British Land Rover

Below is a list of competitors.

2014 North American Car of the Year Nominees:

2014 Acura RLX
2014 BMW 4 Series
2014 Cadillac CTS
2014 Cadillac ELR
2014 Chevrolet Corvette
2014 Chevrolet Impala
2014 Chevrolet Spark EV
2014 Chevy SS
2014 Fiat 500L and E
2014 Honda Fit EV
2014 Infiniti Q50
2014 Jaguar F-Type
2014 Kia Cadenza
2014 Kia Forte, 5-door, Koup
2014 Kia Soul
2014 Lexus IS
2014 Maserati Ghibli
2014 Mazda3
2014 Mazda6
2014 Mercedes-Benz B-Class
2014 Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class
2014 Mercedes-Benz E-Class
2014 Mercedes-Benz S-Class
2014 Mitsubishi Mirage
2014 Nissan Versa Note
2014 Porsche Cayman/Cayman S
2014 Smart fortwo electric
2014 Toyota Corolla

2014 North American Truck/Utility of the Year Nominees:

2014 Acura MDX
2014 BMW X5
2014 Buick Encore
2014 Chevrolet Silverado
2014 Ford Transit Connect / Wagon
2014 GMC Sierra
2014 Honda Pilot
2014 Hyundai Santa Fe LWB
2014 Jeep Cherokee
2014 Kia Sorento
2014 Land Rover Range Rover Sport
2014 Mitsubishi Outlander
2014 Nissan Rogue
2014 Nissan NV200 Compact Cargo
2014 Ram 2500/3500
2014 Subaru Forester
2014 Toyota 4Runner
2014 Toyota Tundra
2014 Toyota RAV4