Winners of the North American Car and Truck of the Year Announced

5 January 1998

    DETROIT, Jan. 5 -- Winners of the prestigious 1998 North
American Car and Truck of the Year Awards were announced today at a news
conference in Detroit at the North American International Auto Show.

    The winners are:

    1998 North American Car of the Year:
    Chevrolet Corvette

    1998 North American Truck of the Year:
    Mercedes ML 320

    Now in its 5th year, the awards are judged by an independent jury of 48
leading North American automotive writers and broadcasters.  Ballots were
distributed in early November and voting closed on December 15, 1997.
Finalists were selected from an original field of 24 cars and nine trucks.

    The 1998 finalists were:

    1998 North American Car of the Year:
    Audi A6
    Chevrolet Corvette
    Lexus GS Series

    1998 North American Truck of the Year:
    Dodge Durango
    Mercedes ML 320
    Subaru Forester

    The 1998 Nominees were:

    Cars:
    Audi A6                 Lincoln Town Car
    Buick Regal             Mazda 626
    Chevrolet Camaro        Mercedes CLK
    Chevrolet Corvette      Mercury Grand Marquis
    Chevrolet Prism         Nissan Altima
    Chrysler Concorde       Oldsmobile Intrigue
    Dodge Intrepid          Pontiac Firebird
    Ford Contour SVT        Porsche Boxster
    Ford Escort ZX-2        Toyota Sienna
    Ford Crown Victoria     Toyota Corolla
    Honda Accord            Volkswagen Passat
    Lexus GS300/400         Volvo V70 XC AWD

    Trucks
    Dodge Durango           Mazda B Series Pickup
    Ford Ranger             Mercedes ML 320
    Honda CR-V              Nissan Frontier
    Isuzu Rodeo             Subaru Forester
    Lincoln Navigator

    The 1997  North American Car and Truck of the Year awards went to
Mercedes-Benz SLK and Ford Expedition.

SOURCE  North American Car and Truck of the Year