Dodge Dart up for Car of the Year
The Dodge Dart is a contender for the 2013 North American Car of the Year. The Dart, Chrysler’s latest entry in the compact car segment, is vying for the title with 10 other passenger cars. The Ford Escape and Ram 1500 pickup are competing for the Truck of the year honours.
The winners will be announced at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in January. Here are the cars and trucks selected for the short list by a jury of 50 Canadian and U.S. automotive journalists:
Car of the Year: BMW 3 Series, Cadillac ATS, Chevrolet Malibu, Dodge Dart, Ford Fusion, Honda Accord, Lincoln MKZ, Nissan Altima, Scion FRS, Subaru BRZ, Toyota Avalon.
Truck of the Year: Acura RDX, Audi Allroad, BMW X1, Ford C-Max, Ford Escape, Hyundai Santa Fe, Infiniti JX35, Mazda CX- 5, Nissan Pathfinder, Ram 1500.
No more front bench seats
When the 2014 Chevrolet Impala arrives it will put to rest a fixture of automobiles since the days of the horseless carriage — the front bench seat.
The outgoing Impala is the last passenger car in production in North America to offer three-across front seating, an option that ends with the introduction of Chevy’s redesigned flagship sedan.
Only one in 10 Impala buyers chose the $195 front bench option last year. For many of today’s car buyers, front bucket seats are the norm — a trend that General Motors designers expect will continue.
“A lot of people prefer bucket seats because they’re sporty, even in models that aren’t sports cars,” said Clay Dean, GM director of design. “Our customers also appreciate having the centre console as a convenient place to store their phone and other personal items.”