GM’s Chevrolet Volt wins car of the year

DETROIT — The Chevrolet Volt has won yet another major award: The North American Car of the Year.

The Volt beat out two other finalists, the Hyundai Sonata and the battery-powered Nissan Leaf.

The North American Truck of the Year is the Ford Explorer, which beat out the Jeep Grand Cherokee and the Dodge Durango. It was Ford’s third consecutive year to win Truck of the Year.

The announcement was made at the 2011 North American International Auto Show, where General Motors first showed the Volt as a concept car four years ago.

Tom Stephens, General Motors’ vice chairman of product development, declared that the automaker, which received assistance from the U.S. government as it went through bankruptcy restructuring in 2009, is able to produce the best cars with innovative technology.

After nearly four years of anticipation, many car critics are saying the Volt’s performance is impressive. With a starting price of about $41,000 before a $7,500 federal tax credit, the Volt travels between 25-50 miles on an electric charge before a gasoline-powered generator switches on to produce more electricity. Since its introduction in December, Chevrolet has sold 326 Volts.

The extended-range plug-in car also has been named Motor Trend Car of the Year, Automobile Magazine’s Car of the Year and the Free Press Car of the Year.

The North American Car and Truck of the Year awards are prestigious because they are given by a jury of 49 veteran automotive journalists from Canada and the United States. To be eligible, vehicles must be “all-new” or “substantially changed” from the previous model.

The Truck of the Year, the 2011 Ford Explorer, was launched in December. A media drive late last year showed that it easily travels over deep sand ruts and steep hills even though it is built off a car platform — the same one as the Ford Taurus sedan.

The Explorer also gets 25 miles per gallon on the highway and 17 mpg in the city, putting it at the head of its class for fuel economy.