The Hyundai Elantra was named North American Car of the Year by a panel of independent automotive journalists at the 2012 North American International Auto Show Monday.
The Elantra beat out the Ford Focus and Volkswagen Passat as finalists for the car of the year. The Evoque beat out the BMW X3 and the Honda CR-V. The finalists were named last month.
John Krafcik, president and CEO of Hyundai North America, said Hyundai has sold more than 200,000 Elantras since the new model was introduced.
Krafcik said the award will help to cement Hyundai's reputation for quality and improvement the company has made since it entered North America in 1986.
The Elantra, which was designed at Hyundai's California studio, is a compact car that gets 40 m.p.g. on the highway.
"It's an amazingly competitive segment. To have this honor feels really good," Krafcik said.
Most other automotive awards, in contrast, are given out by individual publications or organizations. Before Monday's awards were announced, domestic automakers had won 10 North American Car of the Year awards, European automakers had won four and Japanese automakers had won three. Hyundai won in 2009 for the Hyundai Genesis.
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