US car, truck of the year named

The 2009 North American Car of the Year contest, in which 50 motoring journalists from the US and Canada picked their favourites, saw the Hyundai Genesis win in the car category while Ford's F-150 was voted Truck of the year.

Cars are awarded points based on factors including innovation, design, safety, handling, driver satisfaction and value for money. The top three vehicles in each category were announced in December.

Genesis, which is the first Korean vehicle to win in 15 years of the awards, received 189 points.

The Ford Flex and the Volkswagen Jetta TDI scored 180 and 131 points, respectively, in the passenger car category.

In the truck category, the F-150 received 259 points, the Dodge Ram received 167 points and the Mercedes-Benz ML320 BlueTec received 74 points.

In 2008, the Chevrolet Malibu was voted Car of the Year and the Mazda CX-9 was voted the North American Truck of the Year.

Winners were announced at the Detroit Motor Show on Sunday.