Who should win the 2008 Detroit Auto Show Car and Truck of the year awards?

Seeing the show is in Detroit, we already know the fix is in for the American entries but what the heck, let's pick the one WE think should win...

NORTH AMERICAN CAR AND TRUCK OF THE YEAR FINALISTS ANNOUNCED

Four General Motors vehicles, a Honda and a Mazda were the six vehicles voted as finalists for the North American Car and Truck of the Year awards.

Finalists for the 2008 North American Car of the year are the Cadillac CTS, Chevrolet Malibu and Honda Accord

Finalists for the 2008 North American Truck of the Year are the Buick Enclave, Mazda CX-9 and Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid.

The finalists for the prestigious awards were announced Wednesday at a Detroit Economic Club luncheon to promote NAIAS 2008. Winners will be announced at the first press conference at the NAIAS on Jan. 13, 2008.

Established in 1994, the NACTOY awards honor vehicles that set new standards or become new benchmarks in their class. Each vehicle is judged and ranked by various categories. Those include general design, safety, fuel economy, handling and general roadworthiness, performance, comfort, assembly quality, functionality, technical innovation, driver satisfaction and price. Value for the dollar and affordability are particularly important factors.

The jury of 48 people comprises a wide range of professional journalists across North America who report on cars and the auto industry. They created their own organization to independently determine the best new products automakers offer each year.

Earlier this fall, journalist-jurors narrowed a long list of new models introduced in 2007 to a short list of candidates that consisted of 15 cars, including minivans, and 13 trucks, which also includes sport utilities and crossovers.

In the second round of voting, journalist-jurors dispersed 25 points to the various candidates in the two categories. Jurors could give a maximum of 10 to one vehicle, but no other vehicle could receive more than nine of those points.

In the third round of voting, jurors will disperse 10 points to the three finalists in each category.