For Ford and Chrysler, winning the North American Car and Truck of the Year Awards is affirmation of their product-led comeback, and signals proof that automakers criticized for selling cars at the lowest common denominator have turned toward putting imagination and innovation back into the dealer showrooms. It's proof that cars should be more than mechanical mobility contraptions, and, indeed, that consumers are now demanding that the cars they buy are engineered to the highest power, and express a style of their own.

Since 1993, the North American Car of the Year and the North American Truck of the Year have been awarded by 48 full-time automotive journalists from Canada and the United States. While the awards are announced at the North American International Auto Show, the show does not give the awards.

Photos by Erik Hanson