Motor Trend Names Chrysler 300 2005 Car of the Year
Chrysler awarded prestigious Golden Calipers from a field of 24 Contenders
November 18, 2004


Motor Trend

Motor Trend magazine, the world's number one automotive authority and part of the PRIMEDIA Consumer Automotive Group, today announced the selection of the Chrysler 300 as the 2005 Motor Trend Car of the Year. Now in its 56th year, the title of Motor Trend Car of the Year is the most coveted and most recognized award in the automotive industry.

"The Chrysler 300 is an extremely compelling combination of power, responsiveness, room and refinement," said Angus MacKenzie, editor-in-chief of Motor Trend. "A home run on significance, a slam dunk on value, and clearly superior to its rivals in every way, the Chrysler 300 is truly deserving of the 2005 Motor Trend Car of the Year award.

After weeks of extensive performance testing, Motor Trend editors found the Chrysler 300 to be a daring re-invention of the great American sedan. The Chrysler 300 not only has world class levels of performance, road-holding and refinement, but is also the first North-American-built mainstream sedan in decades with bold, expressive and confidently American styling.

This year, the editorial staff of Motor Trend conducted testing on 24 new vehicles, from sports cars to minivans, searching for the automobile that best represented exceptional value, superiority in its class, and the most significant development on the new-car scene for 2005. Only truly new or substantially revised cars were considered with the condition that they be available for public sale by January 1, 2005.

The 2005 Motor Trend Car of the Year competition included the following models: Acura RL, Audi A6, BMW 6 Series, Buick LaCrosse, Cadillac STS, Chevrolet Corvette, Chrysler 300, Dodge Magnum, Ford Five Hundred, Ford Mustang, Honda Accord Hybrid, Honda Odyssey, Kia Amanti, Kia Spectra, Lotus Elise, Mazda 3, Mercedes-Benz SLK, Mercury Montego, Pontiac G6, Porsche 911, Saab 9-2x, Scion tC, Subaru Legacy and Volvo S40/V50.

"In a market filled with so many outstanding vehicles, Motor Trend seeks to identify brilliance," said MacKenzie. "We recognize the trust our readers and the automotive industry place in the Motor Trend brand and strive to deliver the most unbiased vehicle evaluation, putting the contending vehicles through a full battery of instrumental tests and hundreds of hours of hands-on assessment."

The Motor Trend Evaluation Process
Each year, the editorial staff of Motor Trend evaluates eligible vehicles based on three key categories: Significance, Superiority, and Value. Significance refers to impact on the market and looks for mastery and innovation in engineering, technology, design, safety and packaging. Superiority levels the playing field and looks for class-leading levels of performance, style and functionality within its specific competitive set--not among all new vehicles. Finally, the all-important Value question asks, "What does this vehicle deliver in relation to what the consumer has to pay to purchase and own it?"

In making the selection, vehicles are taken to task through thousands of miles of on-track and on-street driving, in a wide variety of weather and road conditions to evaluate many factors, including styling and design; fit, finish and materials; engineering and technology; interior; safety; performance; and value. Additional aspects evaluated included handling balance, response, predictability, and power delivery.

The complete report on the 2005 Motor Trend Car of the Year testing and selection will be published in the January 2005 issue of Motor Trend (on newsstands December 2, 2004).



View the 2005 Car of the Year Wallpaper Gallery
A collection of downloadable photography from our Car of the Year testing.

Go Behind the Scenes on the 2005 Car of the Year Testing
Join the editors of Motor Trend Magazine as they take 24 contenders on the road to discover which one vehicle deserves to win the 2005 Car of the Year award.

Watch the 2005 Car of the Year Video
Editor in Chief Angus Mackenzie shares his opinion on this year's winner.

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