Chevy Volt grabs AEI's "Best Engineered Vehicle" of 2011 award — Autoblog Green It's interesting that the VW Jetta was one of the candidates. I'd be curious what their criteria were as the latest gen Jetta has received poor reviews as being substantial step backwards from the previous gen, due to cost cutting. Perhaps only models that are new/redesigned for the 2011 model year are nominated/automatically selected?
Yea right, now pull the other one!!!! And the Chevy Cruze is "steering" it's way to #1 http://blogs.wsj.com/drivers-seat/2011/04/10/chevy-recalls-cruze-after-a-steering-wheel-falls-off/ And the Ford F150 almost "bagged" first place http://www.torquenews.com/106/ford-expands-f150-airbag-recall-almost-12-million-trucks
"SAE International members voted on the "Best Engineered Vehicle" from a list of candidates, including the Nissan Leaf, BMW 5 Series, Kia Optima and Volkswagen Jetta. The vehicles were judged based on these criteria: commonality, flexibility, cost, innovation, package efficiency, powertrain performance, chassis systems, interior accommodations, occupant safety and engineering benchmark."
Vehicles are only allowed in their first year of design (or heavily changed design). The iconic prius won the award in 2004.