Chevy Pulls a Two-Fer, Takes Motor Trend Awards with New Camaro, Colorado Models

Chevrolet pulled off a double upset, taking both car and truck-of-the-year honors from Motor Trend magazine with its Camaro muscle car and Chevrolet Colorado pickup.

The twin endorsement by the widely quoted magazine means Chevrolet bested such serious competitors as Honda, whose all-new Civic was seen by many as a Car-of-the-Year shoe-in, while the new Nissan Titan and the refreshed Toyota Tacoma were strong contenders for the Truck-of-the-Year title.

“I couldn’t be more proud of this team that delivered the Camaro,” said Mark Reuss, the head of global product development for General Motors, as he accepted one of the two awards during the first-ever televised version of the Motor Trend awards.

“This is the A-team right here, and the A-team back home,” added Reuss, who was joined on stage by GM’s design director Ed Welburn and Al Oppenheiser, the chief engineer on the Camaro team.

The Camaro has nabbed a string of awards in recent years, all the more significant considering the muscle car was gone from the Chevrolet line-up for seven years due to sluggish sales. Many observers questioned GM’s judgement in bringing the car back in 2009. But it has dominated its long-time rival and traditional segment leader, the Ford Mustang pretty much ever since.

Chevy is hoping that a complete Camaro make-over – and awards like this one – will help Camaro continue to command in 2016, even though Ford recently remade the Mustang for its 50^th anniversary.