Ford Motor Company and Volkswagen shared top honors respectively for Truck and Car of the Year at NAIAS 2015 in Detroit.
VW won Car of the Year for its latest Golf – the undisputed champion of affordable, sporty hatchbacks. You can throw the GTI version and other trim levels into that mix. They all share in the German’s victory. With an introductory price starting just under $18,000, the Golf combines simple external styling with quickness and precise handling worthy of a much more expensive vehicle.
Related: NAIAS 2015: Toyota Teasing Sports Car
The Ford F-150, already the best selling pickup in the world, earned NAIAS 2015 Truck of the Year for its revolutionary aluminum design concepts. The latest F-150 features a military grade aluminum alloy body around an improved steel frame. Those alloys make the new F-150 up to 700 pounds lighter — improving fuel efficiency and upgrading both handling and stopping distance. Its beefiness reduced, a smaller engine can power it. Ford dropped in a 2.7 liter, turbo-assisted plant under the hood without losing towing power or torque.
Give Ford credit for producing a major structural redesign for a vehicle that hasn’t problem selling for decades. The F-150 has been the top seller for 37 years now. Amongst all vehicles, only the Toyota Camry outsells the modern F-150, making this award seem like a no-brainer — and a red cape waved in the face of other truck manufacturers.
