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What
are the International Car of the
Year Awards?
Presented
with the flair of the Academy Awards,
the ICOTY Awards honor 10 new vehicles
in 10 categories in the new model
year. Nominees
include vehicles that are manufactured
by American, British, German, Japanese,
Korean and Swedish automakers but
are sold in America. ICOTY categories
include:
International
Car of the Year
International
Truck of the Year
•
• • • •
Luxury
Car of the Year •
Most Respected
Sedan of the Year •
Most Dependable
Entry Level Car of the Year •
Most Spirited
Sports Car of the Year •
Most Sex Appeal
Pickup Truck of the Year •
Most Athletic
SUV Hybrid of the Year •
Most Resourceful
Earth Friendly Car of the Year •
Most Compatible
Crossover of the Year •
Most Versatile
•
• • • •
Launched
in 1996, the ICOTY Awards became the first awards to honor new vehicles based
on the emotional connection between car and consumer and how well automakers accomplished
that connection with their products. Today, nearly all automakers use the 'emotional
connection' theme in their marketing and advertising campaigns.
ICOTY's superlative categories reflect the emotional connection a consumer might
experience during purchase or ownership at a particular stage in their life. "The
ICOTY Awards are not about power and performance, but rather personality and profession,"
says ICOTY executive producer Courtney Caldwell. "They're about the emotional
relationship people have with their cars; a reflection and statement about who
and where we are in life and how our cars make us feel." In
order to achieve a balanced perspective that reflects all consumers, ICOTY engages
a diverse group of renowned automotive journalists in the voting process. The
ICOTY Jury consists
of a dozen reputable writers and editors that represent respected publications
such as the Robb Report, MSN Autos, Edmunds.com, St. Louis Post Dispatch, Winding
Road, Auto Week, and Autoline Detroit, to name a few. The
ICOTY Awards, televised by CBS
Detroit as TV special, attracts more than 800 industry
executives, political figures, business leaders, and media, garnering
significant press coverage
as the kick off event of press week on the eve of the North American International
Auto Show (NAIAS).
Criteria —
Each car must be a brand new model entry, or if an existing model, have significant
changes in design and/or technology for the new model year. Attributes
considered during the voting process include: appealing to men and women,
head turning ability, ergonomically friendly, style, affordability, performance,
practical, grocery getting potential, safe & dependable, proud to be seen
in, fun factor, and very cool. Winners
are selected by the ICOTY Jury.
Voting ballots are then sent to J.D. Power and Associates for final tabulation.
Winners
are announced on the night of the ICOTY event, which is now the largest, most
professionally produced auto awards show in the industry, an event which has been
coined by industry leaders as the Academy Awards of Cars.
ICOTY
Awards have been used by
winning automakers in their newspaper and magazine ads, outdoor billboards
and television infomercials. The awards have also received mention in USA Today,
The Wall Street Journal, People, Forbes, US News, Home and Garden, Newsweek, MSN
Autos, Edmunds.com and on GMA and The Early Show.
Other
awards presented during the ICOTY
show include a Lifetime
Achievement Award
presented to a veteran automotive
journalist; the HEART
STRING Award,
honoring an automaker and its agency
for the most emotionally compelling
car commercial; and introduced in
2008, the inaugural EARTH
ANGEL Award honoring
the most environmentally friendly
automaker of the year, an industry
first. General Motors became the
first recipient of the inaugural
award.
The
ICOTY Awards show is sponsored
each year by a variety of companies.
For
ICOTY Sponsorship Kit, Receive Press
Releases or Media Invitation
for Upcoming ICOTY Awards, please
click
here.
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