Volvo XC60 wins International Truck of the Year award

It’s a crossover.

It’s a utility vehicle.

It’s an SUV.

It’s also a truck. An award-winning truck, the XC60.

In case you missed it, the Volvo XC60 – an acknowledged crossover vehicle – was chosen as the winner of the 2010 International Truck of the Year today by the International Car of the Year (ICOTY) jury at the 2009 Los Angeles Auto Show. The other Truck of the Year finalists were the Chevy Equinox and the Ford Transit Connect.

VolvoXC608x6

The XC60 was chosen over 10 new crossovers, SUVs and trucks by a distinguished panel of top automotive journalists.

Volvo notes it’s the 20th award the vehicle has won since sales began in late 2008 in Europe. City Safe, a low-speed braking technology, is offered as standard equipment. If the driver does not react in time and the vehicle senses an impending frontal collision is near, the vehicle applies the brakes without driver intervention.

“This ties a very pretty bow around what’s been a truly amazing year for Volvo,” commented Speck. “The XC60 has not only been recognized by the media but it’s been extremely well received by our customers.” The 2010 XC60 has helped VCNA earn six consecutive months of year-over-year sales increases since June.

The XC60 was chosen the winner from a panel of 19 automotive media from around the U.S. and Canada representing top newspapers, magazines and websites. The jurors must consider the ICOTY mission of “honoring vehicles that reflect an emotional connection between car and consumer lifestyles” when making their nominations. “The ICOTY awards are not centered on power and performance,” said Courtney Caldwell, ICOTY’s creator and executive producer. “It’s about how cars reflect our personalities, lifestyles and self image, an attitude most consumers identify with.”

Once approved by the ICOTY nominating committee, the awards jury then bases their decision on a number of important criteria: The vehicle must be new or substantially revised, it must be offered for sale to the general public by the judging deadline of November 16, 2009, and may not have been previously considered for the ICOTY Awards.

Attributes considered by the jury for each vehicle include:

Lifestyle attributes considered by ICOTY Jury:

Appealing to Men and Women
Head Turning Ability
Environmentally Friendly
Style & Performance
Affordable & Practical
Grocery Getting Potential
Safe & Dependable
Fun Factor & Smile Meter
Very Cool & Status Symbol
Proud to Drive & Be Seen In

The ICOTY jury is made up of a pantheon of nationally-renowned automotive editors and journalists.

They include Denise McCluggage, senior-contributing editor, Auto Week; Kevin Smith, editorial director, Edmunds.com; Ken Gross, contributing editor, Playboy; James Bell, executive marketing analyst, Kelley Blue Book; Joe Weisenfelder, senior editor and lead reviewer, Cars.com; Rick Cotta, editor, Consumer Guide Automotive; Perry Stern, editor, MSN Autos; Howard Walker, automotive journalist, Palm Beach Illustrated; Steve Siler, west coast bureau chief, Caranddriver.com; Dan Wiese, auto editor, St. Louis Post-Dispatch; Ann Job, automotive test driver, Associated Press; John Rettie, auto contributor, Autotrader.com; Bob Plunkett, editor-in-chief, New Car News Syndicate; Kim Viano, lead auto editor, Yahoo! Autos; Greg Whale, automotive contributor for New Car Test Drive, Truck Trend; BJ Killeen, editor-at-large, Driver Talk Radio; Jeff Voth, auto writer, Sun Media and Yahoo! Canada Autos; and Courtney Caldwell, editor-in-chief, Earth, Wind & Power Media and Road & Travel Magazine.