And the North American Car and Truck of the Year Finalists are…

For the past 18 years, a committee of journalists from U.S. and Canadian magazines, radio and TV stations, websites and newspapers meet once a year and vote for the North American Car and Truck of the Year [NACTOY].

You’ll have to wait until January to find the winners for the 2012 edition of the North American Car and Truck of the Year, but the three finalists for each category were announced on Thursday in Detroit.

The car candidates in alphabetical order are the new Ford Focus, Hyundai Elantra and the U.S. market VW Passat, which recently won Motor Trend’s 2012 Car of the Year award.

We’re not sure how the enlightened committee defines the word “truck”, but the final shortlist in this category includes the new BMW X3, Honda CR-V and Range Rover Evoque.

The jurors have until January 6 to vote among these vehicles, with the final results to be announced on January 11 during the 2012 Detroit Motor Show.

So far, domestic automakers have won the North American Car of the Year award 10 times, European automakers four times, Japanese automakers three times and a Korean manufacturer only once.

On the truck side, domestic automakers have won the award 12 times, Japanese automakers four times and European automakers twice.

For those of you wondering, here are the vehicles that made it to the jurors’ short list this year:

North American Car of the Year:Audi A6Audi A7Buick VeranoChevrolet SonicChrysler 300/SRT-8Fiat 500Ford FocusHyundai AccentHyundai ElantraHyundai VelosterKia Rio/Rio 5Scion iQSubaru ImprezaToyota CamryToyota Prius VVW BeetleVW Passat

North American Truck of the Year:BMW X3Honda CR-VLand Rover Range Rover EvoqueMercedes-Benz M-ClassMini CountrymanNissan QuestSaab 9-4X

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