At the auto show in Detroit on Sunday, January 11, the Hyundai Genesis, was named the North American Car of the Year while the Ford F-150 took the top honors as Truck of the Year.

The Genesis bested the Ford Flex and Volkswagen Jetta for the designation while the F-150 came out ahead of the Dodge RAM and the Mercedes-Benz ML320 Bluetec.

In order to be considered for the award, contending vehicles must have been redesigned for the 2008 model year. A panel of journalists whittled the qualifiers down to three finalists in each category.

John Krafcik, acting COO of Hyundai Motor America said, "This award tells people that Hyundai maybe is a different car company than what they think. It signals that these guys have arrived."

The award was the third for the Ford F-150, which has been America's best-selling truck for 27 years.

For the first time this year, two of the finalists, the Jetta and the ML320 were diesel-powered and the Genesis was not only the winner, but the first Korean vehicle to be named a finalist.

In 2008 the winners were the Chevrolet Malibu and the Mazda CX-9, while the 2007 award designates were the Saturn Aura and the Chevrolet Silverado.