GM sweeps car and truck awards

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GM sweeps car and truck awards

The Chevrolet Silverado and the Saturn Aura took first place, respectively, in the North American Car and Truck awards announced this morning at Cobo Center.

Silverado, Chevy's full-sized truck, beat out a pair of crossovers, Mazda's CX-7 and Ford's Edge.

Aura, a new mid-sized sedan, topped Honda's Fit and Toyota's Camry.

The dual wins gave General Motors a clean sweep of this year's awards.

"This is one happiest days we've had in our company in a long time," said Ed Peper, general manager of the Chevrolet division. "We're making a statement ... that we have great segment leading products that provide great value."

The combination of traditional truck attributes, such as towing capacity and engine strength, with what modern consumers want -- better fuel economy and interior design -- gave Silverado the win, Peper said.

Aura's win helps validate the Saturn model intended to look and drive like European competitors, said Jill Lajdziak, general manager of the Saturn division.

"This will be in our ads in about 30 minutes," she said. "This brand has been through a lot ... but a lot of people believed we could succeed if we could marry our customer service to great products."

The North American Car and Truck of the Year awards are voted upon by 49 American and Canadian automotive journalists and unveiled at the North American International Auto Show.