The Car of the Year, according to more than 50 automotive journalists in North America, is none other than Hyundai Elantra 2012.

Hyundai Elantra was named Car of the Year at a news conference during the 2012 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, USA, on Sunday where 50 independent automotive journalists served as jury.

The jurors shortlisted around 50 new vehicles before selecting the top three cars and also the top three trucks. The Volkswagen Passat and Ford Focus were the other car finalists.

This is the 19th year of the awards, and Hyundai’s second win as Car of the Year. The Hyundai Genesis was named North American Car of the Year in 2009.

On the other hand, the Truck of the Year award went to the 2012 Land Rover Evoque beating the BMW X3 and the Honda CR-V.

Here are the winners and runners up for Car of the Year Award from 1994 to present:

1994 – Mercedes-Benz C-Class
Chevrolet Camaro
Toyota Supra

1995 – Chrysler Cirrus
Ford Contour
Oldsmobile Aurora

1996 – Chrysler minivans
Ford Taurus
Mercury Sable

1997 – Mercedes-Benz SLK-Class
Jaguar XK8
BMW 5-Series

1998 -Chevrolet Corvette
Audi A6
Lexus GS

1999 – Chrysler 300M
Honda Odyssey
Volkswagen New Beetle

2000 – Ford Focus
Audi TT
Lincoln LS

2001 – Chrysler PT Cruiser
Honda Insight
Toyota Prius

2002 – Nissan Altima
Ford Thunderbird
Cadillac CTS

2003 – MINI Cooper
Infiniti G35
Nissan 350Z

2004 – Toyota Prius
Mazda RX-8
Cadillac XLR

2005 – Chrysler 300
Chevrolet Corvette
Ford Mustang

2006 – Honda Civic
Ford Fusion
Pontiac Solstice

2007 – Saturn Aura
Toyota Camry
Honda Fit

2008 – Chevrolet Malibu
Cadillac CTS
Honda Accord

2009 – Hyundai Genesis
Ford Flex
Volkswagen Jetta TDI

2010 – Ford Fusion Hybrid
Buick LaCrosse
Volkswagen Golf/GTI/TDI

2011 – Chevrolet Volt
Hyundai Sonata
Nissan Leaf

2012 – Hyundai Elantra
Ford Focus
Volkswagen Passat