Elantra, Evoque win honors at North American International Auto Show

A brand that more than 12 years ago was criticized for its lackluster design and poor build quality was recognized recently as "America's best."

The Hyundai Elantra earned the nod as the 2012 North American Car of the Year at the 19th annual North American International Auto Show at Detroit's Cobo Center last month.

The Land Rover Range Rover Evoque received high marks as the 2012 North American Truck of the Year.

The awards are designed to recognize the most outstanding new vehicles of the year. Those vehicles are benchmarks in their segments based on factors such as innovation, comfort, design, safety, handling, driver satisfaction and value for the dollar.

This year, no Japanese automakers were among the three finalists for North American Car of the Year. Instead, those in the running were the Ford Focus, Hyundai Elantra and Volkswagen Passat.

The award marks the second win for Hyundai. The Hyundai Genesis won in 2009, and the Hyundai Sonata was one of three finalists last year.

"Hyundai is a rags–to–riches story," said jury member Dave Van Sickle, of Motor Matters Syndicate. "Prior to 1998, their sales and reputation were in the Dumpster. It took hard work and tight focus on improvement to put Hyundai where they are today — and in just 14 years."

Hyundai has sold more than 200,000 Elantras since the new model was introduced in 2010. The popular compact car was designed in California and achieves 40 miles per gallon on the highway.

Detroit hauls empty

To the disappointment of "Built in America" loyalists, there was an absence of Detroit truck builders among the truck award finalists: the BMW X3, Honda CR-V and Range Rover Evoque.

Evoque netted the first win for Land Rover, although the British brand has been a finalist twice before.

"Range Rover successfully charts a new direction for the venerable SUV trailblazer with a fresh design and advanced thinking about environmental issues," said Alex Taylor, of Fortune magazine.

Domestic auto manufacturers have won North American Car of the Year 10 times. Japanese automakers have captured the award three times and European automakers four times. A Korean automaker has won twice.

American automakers have captured the honor of North American Truck of the Year 12 times. Japanese automakers have won on four occasions and European automakers three times.

A jury of 50 prominent automotive journalists chose the winners. They represented newspapers, magazines, websites, and television and radio stations in Canada and the U.S.

This year's awards were the strongest showing by European automakers in 15 years with BMW, Land Rover and Volkswagen each having finalists. In 1997, Mercedes–Benz, Jaguar and BMW were the three car finalists, with the winner being the Mercedes SLK.

The 2011 North American Car of the Year was the Chevrolet Volt.

Ford Explorer took last year's 2011 North American Truck of the Year award.