DETROIT, Michigan, Nov 18 (AFP) - Chrysler's 300 sedan has been named Car of the Year by the automotive magazine, Motor Trend, bagging one of the most coveted awards in the automotive world.
The muscular sedan beat out almost two dozen other new and redesigned 2005 model year cars for the prize, confirming the car's popularity with the critics as well as the public.
Earlier this month, the rear-wheel-drive sedan was voted "Most Significant Vehicle of the Year," and "Editors' Most Wanted Sedan under 25,000 dollars for 2005," by Edmunds.com, the automotive research website.
Motor Trend editors singled out the 300's "world-class levels of performance, road-holding and refinement" and said it was "clearly superior to its rivals in every way."
Sales of the sedan have exceeded Chrysler's expectations, averaging 12,000 a month -- a pace that translates to about 150,000 units annually.
Its popularity is widely seen as a victory for old-fashioned, brash American styling. Motor Trend said the 300 was "the first US-built, mainstream sedan in decades with bold, expressive, and confident American styling."
Edmunds' paid tribute to the 300's "capacity to blend past and present, big sedan performance and luxury and value and style into one enticing package."
11/18/2004 16:48 GMT - AFP