Urban Wheel Awards Goes Green and Brings Good News

PHOTO BY JENNIFER VUONG / AMERICAJR.com

The 2009 Urban Wheel Awards took place inside the Detroit Opera House.

by Cymone Allwood as8538@wayne.edu

DETROIT -- Mitsubishi Motors North America Manufacturing won company of the year at the 2009 Urban Wheel Awards. With all of the bad news and media coverage concerning automotive industry in these uncertain economic times, finally several car companies received some good news as the award ceremony returned to Detroit. This was a chance to see what the engineers, designers and company workers have accomplished over the last 365 days.

The Urban Wheel Awards honor those African-Americans, Asians and Latinos in the industry who strive for diversity. Foreign and Domestic car representatives all joined at the Opera House to celebrate the 13th annual event. This year's theme was thinking green and in the spirit of helping the environment there was a green carpet to match.

Celebrity co-hosts Sheryl Lee Ralph and Tony Plana opened the show, but the cars were the real stars. The Ford Flex won urban truck of the year and Hyundai took home the award for urban car of the year for the Genesis. The evening was filled with talk about the reemergence of the Big Three and the new vehicles they will be producing in the future. Vehicles that will have better fuel efficiency, operate by battery or use other alternative fuel solutions will be at the forefront of the company's transitions.

The nights other winners included Lincoln MKS, Subaru Tribeca and Chevy Malibu for urban broadcast ad campaigns of the year. No one can deny the changes the auto industry has undergone over the last year. But those changes affected Michiganders more than others because people in the motor city watched firsthand as the Big Three almost came close to collapsing.

With the return of the 2009 North American International Auto Show, the bright lights are back on in the city of Detroit and the world is watching closer than ever to see what General Motors, Ford and Chrysler will pull out for the annual show.

 

PHOTO BY JENNIFER VUONG / AMERICAJR.com

WDIV Local 4's Rhonda Walker arrives at the ceremony.

 

PHOTO BY JENNIFER VUONG / AMERICAJR.com

The awards ceremony is about to begin...

 

PHOTO BY JENNIFER VUONG / AMERICAJR.com

Bernard Bronner and Brian Armstead.

 

PHOTO BY JENNIFER VUONG / AMERICAJR.com

WXYZ-TV's Carolyn Clifford and Frank Taylor.

 

PHOTO BY JENNIFER VUONG / AMERICAJR.com

The first acceptance speech.

 

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This page was last updated on Sun, January 18, 2009 11:39 PM

 

 

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