To kick off the Detroit Auto Show, jurors have chosen the winners for the North American Car and Truck of the Year award. A jury of 57 journalists from the US and Canada evaluated a host of vehicles for performance, handling, safety, innovation, driver satisfaction and value for the dollar. The Honda Civic took the prize for the North American Car of the Year by beating out the 2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata and Chevrolet Malibu with the Volvo XC90 coming out in front of the Honda Pilot and Nissan Titan to snag the other award.

Juror and original NACTOY committee member John McElroy of Autoline/WJR-950 AM Radio believes that the finalists deserved the award. "It's kind of how I thought it would turn out," stated McElroy. "It was so close this year and so tough to decide. You really nit-pick this stuff right now." We thought the MX-5 Miata would come out on top, but jurors praised the Civic for its interior room, nimble handling, fuel economy, backseat legroom and more. Volvo's win is also extremely important for the automaker as it sets the bar for the automaker's future vehicles.