Genesis named 'Car of the Year' at Detroit Motor Show

By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, Jan. 11 (Yonhap) -- Hyundai Motor Co.'s Genesis luxury sedan was
named "Car of the Year" at the opening of the North American International Auto
Show in Detroit on Sunday, media reports said.

The Genesis won 189 points against the Ford Flex's 180 points and the
diesel-powered Volkswagen Jetta TDI's 131 points, according to Canadian Driver,
an on-line auto magazine, and other news outlets.
A panel of 50 automotive journalists named the honorees for Car of the Year and
Truck of the Year before kicking off the Detroit Motor Show, which opens annually
in early January.
Ford's F-150 was picked as the Truck of the Year, beating out the Dodge Ram and
the diesel Mercedes Benz ML 320 SUV BlueTec.
The awards have been presented for the past 16 years. The Chevrolet Malibu won
Car of the Year and Mazda CX-9 won the Truck of the Year in 2008.
Canadian Driver said a "combination of class-competitive luxury and refinement at
a bargain price" led the Genesis to win the prize.
"You'd be hard-pressed to get a more satisfying luxury car at twice the price,"
Tony Whitney, a member of the awards panel, was quoted as saying of the Genesis.
Road & Track magazine said the Genesis showed that the "Korean automakers have
come of age," adding that the Korean luxury sedan reminds people of "the original
Lexus LS."
Hyundai, South Korea's leading automaker, has sold 6,167 Genesis sedans in the
United States and Canada since the model was introduced in the North American
market in the summer of last year.
hdh@yna.co.kr
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