History is in the making as the 2009 Hyundai Genesis has been selected as the first Korean finalist for the prestigious 2009 North American Car of the Year award. The Genesis beat out a very competitive batch of semi-finalists, such as the Nissan GT-R, Pontiac G8, and Honda Fit. The two other finalists in the running for this year's title are the Ford Flex and Volkswagen Jetta TDI.The three finalists competing for the Truck of the Year honors are the redesigned 2009 Dodge Ram, 2009 Ford F-150 (which was recently crowned Motor Trend's Truck of the Year), and Mercedes-Benz ML320 BlueTEC. Last year, the 2008 Chevrolet Malibu was the North American Car of the Year, while the 2008 Mazda CX-9 took home the Truck of the Year title.
The awards will be officially presented at the upcoming North American International Autoshow in Detroit this January. While our prediction on the Genesis' crowning of Motor Trend's COTY did not fall through, the Genesis' surprisingly unimpressive competitors for this award cast a positive light for history to be made.
[Source: Edmunds:Inside Line]
