Car and Truck of the Year Finalists: Six chosen for final voting

Three cars and three trucks have made the final cut for the 2009 North American Car and Truck of the Year awards to be presented January 11 at the North American International Automobile Show in Detroit.

The top three cars are the Ford Flex, the diesel-powered Volkswagen Jetta TDI and the Hyundai Genesis luxury sedan.

The truck/SUV finalists include a pair of U.S. trucks - Ford's F-150 and the Dodge Ram - plus the Mercedes-Benz ML320 BlueTec.

From a long list of candidate vehicles, a panel of 50 U.S. and Canadian automotive journalists chose a short list of a dozen or so semi-finalists in each category. In early December, a second vote pared the choices down to three cars and three trucks including SUVs. Right after New Year's, voters decide the winners. Ballots are sent directly to Deloitte & Touche's Detroit office with the results being kept secret until the formal presentations are made at the press conference kicking off the Detroit Auto Show.

Candidate vehicles must be total redesigns. The Chevrolet Malibu was voted Best Car last year with the Mazda CX-9 crossover SUV taking the truck honors.