Our sister publication Motor Trend has named the Toyota Tundra 'Truck of the Year' recently, and last month awarded the Cadillac CTS its 'Car of the Year' honors. On the other end of the spectrum, both Autopia and Wired Magazine named the Tesla electric Roadster their car of the year.  Only appropriate in this year of the “green” automobile. 

Over in Europe, a panel of 58 judges named the itsy-bitsy Fiat 500 their European Car of the Year. But that doesn’t mean a whole lot as they named the Peugeot 307 car of the year in 2002, and that is considered one of the worst Peugeots ever built, both quality and style-wise. 

Then there was our very own 'North American Car of the Year' award. Last year, it went to the Saturn Aura sedan. While that car was expected to re-invigorate the Saturn brand this year, it is expected to meet half of its sales targets for 2007. 

But not all awards just focus on the best in all of automobile-dom. Some acknowledge the fact that there are many different sub-genres of automobile that need recognition. Sort of like the Golden Globes. These awards usually mean about as much merit-wise as the somewhat joke-worthy Globes, as well. 

Here, for example is the best of list compiled by the editors of U.S. News and World Report (via Jalopnik). What’s next, a list by the automotive experts at People Magazine? What would Britney Spears drive, the headline would read. Unfortunately, we all know that. 

Economy Cars: Honda Fit
Midsize Cars: Honda Accord
Upscale Small Cars: Volkswagen GTI
Upscale Midsize Cars: BMW 3-Series
Luxury Cars: BMW 5-Series
Compact SUVs: Honda CR-V
Midsize SUVs: Honda Pilot
Large SUVs: Chevrolet Tahoe
Luxury Midsize SUVs: Lexus RX 350
Full Size Pickups: Chevrolet Silverado 1500
Affordable Sports Cars: Mazda MX-5, Honda S2000, Mazda Speed3 (tied)

So, I think we can all take from the above list compiled by U.S. News and World Report that they don’t really like many of the products from the Big Three. Even though it is a tad import heavy, I actually agree with quite a few of their picks. But I don’t understand how a VW GTI is an Upscale Small Car and not an Affordable Sports Car. Wouldn’t a Mini Cooper S or an Audi A3 be a better choice for Upscale Small Car? 

You could spend hours, days, and weeks arguing the merits of all of these awards in the automotive Blogoshphere. What it all comes down to is that awards really do mean nothing. And just like Oscar winners, will you remember next year who won in 2007? I didn’t think so.

 
via guest blogger Jim Hamel