Ford's Fusion Hybrid and Transit Connect win car, truck of the year

Ford Motor swept the North American Car and Truck of the Year awards, which were announced early today at the Detroit auto show.

The Dearborn automaker's Transit Connect won North American Truck of the Year and the Ford Fusion Hybrid won Car of the Year, giving Ford a boost at the start of the media preview days for the 2010 North American International Auto Show.

The Transit Connect beat the Subaru Outback and the Chevy Equinox for the award. The Fusion beat out the Volkswagen Golf and theBuick Lacrosse.

The Transit Connect, aimed at small businesses, couldn’t have come at a better time. The vehicle starts at $20,780 and gets 22 m.p.g. in the city and 25 m.p.g. on the highway. It has a smooth ride, even while lugging cargo in its 135 cubic feet of space.

The Ford Fusion, already a strong Camry competitor, won drivers over with its 41 m.p.g. in city driving. This is the third time in the award's 17 years that a company has swept both awards.

A jury of 49 journalists from the U.S. and Canada votes on the awards.

Last year, the Hyundai Genesis took the award for North American Car of the year, beating out the Ford Flex and Volkswagen Jetta TDI. Jurors awarded the Ford F-150 North American Truck of the Year, over the Dodge Ram and Mercedes ML 320 BlueTec.

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