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Press Releases and News Articles
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The Toyota Prius is North American Car of the Year
(January 5, 2004)
The 2004 North American Car of the Year trophy has been awarded to the Toyota Prius. The new gas/electric hybrid Prius went on sale in October and boasts a city fuel economy rating of 60 m.p.g. and greatly reduced emissions. A jury of 50 automotive writers and broadcasters voted Prius number one by a wide margin over two other cars chosen as finalists. The car and truck of the year awards honor vehicles that establish new benchmarks in areas including design, innovation, safety and handling. Now in their tenth year, they are the only independent, international awards in North America. Instead of coming from a single publication they are given by veteran automotive journalists representing newspapers, magazines, radio and television. Most of those journalists have been covering the auto industry for at least two decades. The winners were announced January 4th at a news conference at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, although the auto show is not otherwise involved. The jurors considered 17 cars and 13 trucks. The three car finalists were the Toyota Prius, Mazda RX-8 and Cadillac XLR. The three truck finalists were the Nissan Titan, the Ford F-150 and the Cadillac SRX. The Prius received 298 points, compared to 167 for the RX-8 and 113 for the XLR. The Ford F-150 received 317 points, compared to 249 for the Titan and 198 for the SRX. 2004 NORTH AMERICAN CAR OF THE YEAR NOMINEES Acura TSX
BMW X3
1994 North American Car of the Year - Mercedes-Benz C-Class 1995 North American Car of the Year - Chrysler Cirrus 1996 North American Car of the Year - Chrysler minivans 1997 North American Car of the Year - Mercedes-Benz SLK 1998 North American Car of the Year - Chevrolet Corvette 1999 North American Car of the Year - Volkswagen New Beetle 2000 North American Car of the Year - Ford Focus 2001 North American Car of the Year - Chrysler PT Cruiser 2002 North American Car of the Year - Nissan Altima 2003 North American Car of the Year - Mini Cooper/Cooper S
Source: Toyota Lexus North American Pressroom |
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