"Our Automotive Excellence Awards honor the newest cars and trucks in the industry today," said James Meigs, editor-in-chief, Popular Mechanics. "Our automotive team spends months with hands-on testing and research before honoring vehicles with our award. This year we are proud to recognize the ten best and brightest vehicles ever produced."
The recipients of the fourth annual Automotive Excellence Awards are:
Design: Dodge Challenger
Value: Honda Fit
Fuel Efficiency: VW Jetta TDI
Performance: Chevrolet Corvette ZR1
Versatility: Ford Flex
Fun to Drive: BMW 135i
Off-Road Ability: Hummer H3T Alpha
Technical Innovation: Cadillac Escalade With Platinum HID Headlights
Luxury: Jaguar XF
Workhorse: Ford F-150
Each year, to determine the winners of the Popular Mechanics Automotive Excellence Awards, PM's editors drive more than 100 of the newest cars, trucks and sport-utility vehicles, amassing well over 100,000 miles in the process. Through their experiences on extended test drives around the world, instrumented comparison tests and longer-term evaluations, the auto team nominates a list of vehicles in each category. Those selections are put to a vote and the top recipients in each category win an Automotive Excellence Award.
Full coverage of the 2009 Automotive Excellence Awards winners can be found in the December issue of Popular Mechanics.
