The North American Car of the Year (NACOTY) finalists were named today, and the winner will be revealed at the NAIAS in Detroit January 13th, 2008. Not surprisingly the re-worked American entries are climbing to the forefront this year, beating out German and Japanese competition to make the list of finalists.

The finalists for Car of the Year are the Chevrolet Malibu, the Cadillac CTS and the Honda Accord. Finalists for Truck of the Year are the Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid, Buick Enclave and Mazda CX-9. Other cars considered but not selected as finalists included the Audi TT and A5/S5, the Infiniti G37, the Smart ForTwo and the Subaru Impreza/WRX, among others. Trucks also in the running but not making the cut to finals included the Jeep Liberty and Patriot, the Nissan Rogue, the Toyota Tundra and the Land Rover LR2.

The North American Car of the Year finalists are a select group of automobiles chosen each year by a panel of 47 journalists. Since 1994 the NACOTY has been the car chosen by those whose business is knowing and driving cars.