The North American Car and Truck of the Year is a coveted award that is awarded during the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Although the award won’t be announced until January, the candidates for the 2010 award have just been released this week.

This year there have been a number of surprising and perhaps controversial choices of potential award winners observes Chevrolet Peoria. Some, such as the Suzuki Kizashi, have yet to even reach showrooms. But despite some odd choices, the list overall is equally divided among European, American, and Japanese brands.

The total list includes 37 vehicles. Not to anyone’s surprise, Chrysler did not have any vehicle that made it on to the list. Saginaw Chevrolet dealers say that deciding who will win the coveted award for North American Car and Truck of the Year will mainly be automotive journalists that are based in North America. Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait next year to see who will win.

To make it onto the list, Honda New York points out that a vehicle has to either be all-new or substantially updated when compared to the previous model year. This year the awards win to the Hyundai Genesis and the Ford F-150. With so many exciting new vehicles emerging for the 2010 model year, Washington DC Auto Parts expects that the outcome will be highly anticipated as automakers vie for the attention of skittish car buyers.

To see the full list of 2010 candidates, see the full list below.

2010 North American Car of the Year candidates:

Audi S4
BMW Z4
BMW 335d
BMW 5-series GranTurismo
Buick LaCrosse
Cadillac CTS Sport Wagon
Chevrolet Camaro
Ford Fusion/Fusion Hybrid
Ford Mustang/GT500
Ford Taurus/Taurus SHO
Honda Insight
Hyundai Genesis Coupe
Kia Forte
Kia Soul
Lexus HS 250h
Lotus Evora
Mazda3/Mazdaspeed3
Mercedes Benz E-Class
Nissan Cube
Nissan 370Z
Porsche Panamera
Subaru Legacy
Suzuki Kizashi
Toyota Prius
Volkswagen Golf/Golf TDI

2010 North American Truck of the Year candidates:

Acura ZDX
BMW X5 xDrive35d
Cadillac SRX
Chevrolet Equinox
Ford Transit Connect
GMC Terrain
Honda Crosstour (name to be officially announced/confirmed later)
Land Rover LR4
Lincoln MKT
Subaru Outback
Toyota 4Runner
Volvo XC60

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When results are announced during the Detroit Auto Show look right here.

General Motors has been faced with plenty of negative press and criticism lately. With the stalled bailout to add to falling new car sales and the fact that they continue to bleed cash, many wonder why the mammoth automaker doesn’t change its ways before it’s too late. But GM affirms that change is already underway, and that pundits and politicians simply have failed to talk with customers and dealers and see the newest wave of vehicles they’re producing for themselves.

Among the news that has helped confirm GM’s changing ways is a new Sales Satisfaction Index Study from J.D. Power that shows that GM dealers like Detroit Chevrolet dealers or Lubbock Chevrolet dealers are providing some of the best customer service in the auto industry, rivaling that of foreign brands. While GM strives to make additional improvements to its model lineup and dealer network, the automakers contends that change is already in place and is not just wishful thinking.

Quality is another area where General Motors continues to uphold. GM reduced warranty repairs by about 40 percent between 2002 and 2006, and cut such repairs down by 14 percent between 2006 and 2007. Quality is important to car buyers these days, especially when imports have exuded much higher quality than domestic vehicles for quite some time, which has certainly helped fuel sales among Toyota dealers Olympia. As such, GM claims that quality has already improved dramatically and they appear to be on track for continuing to improve quality and manufacturing efficiency.

GM can reference plenty of studies and products that have received kudos recently, but have largely gone unnoticed by the mainstream media in recent weeks. For example, the award-winning Chevrolet Malibu was the segment leader in the J.D. Power and Associates Initial Quality Study and remains a strong seller at Lewis Automotive and overall within Chevy’s lineup. Additionally, brands such as Chevrolet, Pontiac, Cadillac, and Buick, all ranked well in J.D. Power’s Initial Quality Study, which was no surprise to Chevrolet Tuscaloosa dealers who have seen commendable improvements in quality in recent years. Other GM brands that also ranked above average in the study included Cadillac, Hummer, Saab, and Saturn.

So for many car shoppers looking for a new car, GM is not folding up and calling it quits. Although the talk of the bailout is far from over, the automaker plans on making progress in the future and continuing the progress it has made so far.

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Learn more about the Big Three bailout right here.