Motor Trend Car And Truck Of The Year — EARNED or The Best Award Money Can Buy?

Motor Trend Car And Truck Of The Year — EARNED or The Best Award Money Can Buy?
Is it just us, or does something seem a bit of here?

In all of 2015, the two best all-new vehicles to hit the pavement were the 2016 Chevrolet Camaro and the Chevrolet Colorado?

Having said that, we wanted to ask you what YOU think about this: Did these Chevrolet products EARN their award or was this just the result of a lot of General Motors marketing dollars? If there's one thing we've seen GM do well over the years, it's spend and spend, and spend.

What say you, Spies?


Chevrolet's press release follows:

Chevrolet Camaro and Colorado Win Motor Trend 2016 Car and Truck of the Year

Midsize pickup rides new Duramax diesel engine to second consecutive award


LOS ANGELES – The all-new Gen Six Chevrolet Camaro and the Chevrolet Colorado with its all-new 2.8L Duramax turbo-diesel engine won the 2016 Motor Trend Car and Truck of the Year awards on Monday night.

It is the second consecutive Truck of the Year award for Colorado, the mid-size pickup introduced as a 2015 model.

Motor Trend editors praised the Camaro for its lighter weight, which contributes to “world-class sports car performance and dynamics.” 

The Colorado diesel offers the best fuel economy for a pickup truck in the United States, with an Environmental Protection Agency-estimated 31 mpg on the highway for two-wheel drive models, and the highest trailering capability in the midsize truck segment: up to 7,700 pounds (2WD) when equipped with the available trailering package.

Colorado is available in four-door extended or crew cab models with Work Truck, LT and Z71 trim levels. The diesel engine is offered in LT and Z71 Crew Cab models with 2WD or four-wheel drive. It features a variable-geometry turbocharger for optimal power and efficiency, and is SAE-certified at 181 horsepower and 369 lb-ft of torque at 2,000 rpm.

Six all-new powertrain combinations are offered on the 2016 Camaro, including a standard 2.0L Turbo and an available, all-new 3.6L V-6 in LT models, and the 455-hp LT1 6.2L V-8 in the SS – making it the most powerful Camaro SS ever. Each engine is available with a six-speed manual or eight-speed automatic transmission.

Vehicle mass has been reduced between 223 and 390 pounds, depending on the model, creating a more nimble, responsive driving experience. A dramatic, sculpted exterior accentuates the leaner, stiffer platform and slightly smaller dimensions. Meticulously tuned in the wind tunnel, the new Camaro’s exterior contributes to performance through reduced aerodynamic lift for better handling while enhancing efficiency. 

Both the Camaro, which won Motor Trend Car of the year in 1982, and Colorado are well-connected, offering Chevrolet MyLink with phone integration capability for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, as well as OnStar 4G LTE connectivity and a Wi-Fi hotspot.



TomMTomM - 11/17/2015 8:37:15 AM
+5 Boost
The Camaro award is well deserved - the improvement is fantastic. And for its price range - others more expensive cars have trouble keeping up

I think the Colorado win is more a situation of being in between major changes for the majors. Ford, GM, and FCA have little in the way of new trucks this year - and AMerican trucks dominate this anyway - because they are the best for our market.


MDarringerMDarringer - 11/17/2015 11:38:34 AM
0 Boost
The Camaro SS will kill the RCF for $20K less and the Camaro is very reliable.


cidflekkencidflekken - 11/17/2015 10:52:02 AM
+2 Boost
Meh. These awards mean very little. I remember laughing a few years ago when there was a youtube video on the voting process for these Motor Trend awards. I thought it was a parody of sorts at first, but it was official. Maybe it's changed since then, but somehow I doubt it.

That being said, based on the criteria I think the Civic could have easily have won as much as the Camaro.

On the SUV side, the Volvo XC90 is a great vehicle, but the Pilot was likely very close.


TomMTomM - 11/18/2015 4:52:59 AM
+1 Boost
Well - at least the Camaro ranks right up there with past winners like the Renault Alliance and the Chevy Vega.


MDarringerMDarringer - 11/17/2015 11:37:37 AM
0 Boost
The Camaro most decidedly deserves it. The Colorado is a bit more of a surprise. Supposedly the Titan is new but it's really just the old Titan with Ford F150 wannabe styling. The Tacoma is new, but style challenged. The Colorado is a great product, but nothing about it is innovative.


TheSteveTheSteve - 11/17/2015 1:03:47 PM
+1 Boost
I take this whole "best" car/truck/SUV thing with a huge grain of salt. Does it matter if a magazine or show -- be that Motor Trend, Consumer Reports, Top Gear or other -- proclaim some vehicle to be "the best", or whether it's an AutoSpies admin or member who does the same? Regardless, it's just someone asserting: "this is MY FAVORITE." Okay. Glad you like it.


runninglogan1runninglogan1 - 11/17/2015 2:12:14 PM
+2 Boost
The new Camaro sounds like an incredible driving car! Based on performance, the new SS measures up to the GT350 for quite the discount. Nice job Chevy!


monopoly1monopoly1 - 11/18/2015 6:01:16 PM
+1 Boost
We all know that Agent 00R wouldn't have wrote such a ridiculous, asinine article questioning Motor Trend's coveted award choices if it were a German or European automobile company that won.


Copyright 2026 AutoSpies.com, LLC