Cadillac Gets Its First Car of the Year Award

Cadillac won North American Car of the Year for the first time in the award's 19-year history, with the honor going to the ATS at this year's North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The Dodge Ram 1500 was named Truck of the Year, the first win for Dodge since the awards were first handed out in 1984, the Detroit Free Press reports. The 49 journalist jurors chose the winning vehicles, which were announced this morning at the start of the show.

The ATS, a compact luxury car, beat such finalists as the Ford Fusion and Honda Accord, while the Ram beat the Mazda CX-5 and the Ford C-Max Energi, a hybrid. The top Ram exec called it "the proudest day in Ram history," while a General Motors exec said the Cadillac's win was a "huge boost from a credibility standpoint." (More Detroit Auto Show stories.)