Detroit's Automakers Square Off With Asian and European Rivals This Afternoon in 6th Annual 'Interior of the Year' Awards Competition

DETROIT, May 18, 2005 -- It's Hummer versus Honda, Cadillac versus Mercedes and Ford versus Toyota this afternoon during The Auto Interiors Show at Cobo Center when dozens of top design and marketing executives from Detroit automakers and their Asian and European counterparts converge on Cobo Center to find out which vehicles were winners in the 6th "Interior of the Year" awards competition.

In all, 23 vehicles were nominated in four categories -- popular-priced cars, premium-priced cars, popular-priced trucks and premium-priced trucks -- and are vying for top honors. Nearly all of these vehicles will be on hand at Cobo. Two groups of winners -- "media choice" and "industry choice" -- have been selected by the vote of 81 automotive journalists and more than 900 industry at-large voters and will be announced this afternoon.

Sponsored by DuPont Automotive, the 6th "Interior of the Year" award presentations start at 3 p.m. on the show floor at Cobo Center.

The ballot of 23 nominees was prepared by the editors of Ward's Auto World magazine and included the following vehicles:

   Popular-Priced Cars
   Audi A4
   Chrysler 300
   Ford Five Hundred
   Ford Mustang
   Subaru Legacy
   Toyota Avalon
   Volkswagen Jetta
   Volvo V50

   Premium-Priced Cars
   Acura RL
   Audi A6
   Cadillac STS
   Infiniti M 35/45
   Mercedes CLS

   Popular-Priced Trucks
   Buick Terraza
   Chevrolet Equinox
   Honda Odyssey
   Honda Ridgeline
   Hummer H3
   Jeep Grand Cherokee
   Nissan Pathfinder

   Premium-Priced Trucks
   Land Rover LR3
   Lincoln Mark LT pickup
   Mercedes M-Class

  CONTACT:  Mike Hedge of Hedge & Company, Inc., +1-248-789-8976.

PRNewswire -- May 18