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Sunday, 30 October, 2011 8:45 PM

Urban Wheel Awards announces 2012 Vehicles of the Year

Hyundai Veloster, Range Rover Evoque & Toyota Prius Plug-in

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DETROIT -- "The Urban Vehicles of the Year" were announced today by Decisive magazine after their selection by an esteemed panel of independent automotive journalists. The Urban Wheel Awards judging panel spent several months selecting the most stylish, practical and attainable vehicles by driving dozens of cars and trucks in a variety of North American urban settings before settling on the three winners. Decisive magazine's Urban Vehicles of the Year are featured in the magazine's winter issue, which will be available online at www.decisivemagazine.com and on mobile applications.

The Urban Vehicles of the Year winners and finalists will be honored at the 16th Annual Urban Wheel Awards (UWA) on Sunday, January 8, 2012, the MotorCity Casino Hotel's Sound Board Theater in Detroit, Michigan. The16th AnnualUrban Wheel Awards, hosted by the Emerging Diversity Education Fund (EDEF) and DecisiveMedia, has been named the Official Multicultural Event of the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) by the 2012 NAIAS Executive Committee.

The Urban Vehicles of the Year winners have been selected in the following three categories: 2012 Hyundai Veloster Urban Car of the Year; the 2012 Range Rover Evoque Urban Truck of the Year; and, the 2012 Toyota Prius Plug-in Urban Green Vehicle of the Year.

Photo credit: www.urbanwheelawards.com

Hyundai Veloster - Urban Car of the Year: According to Lyndon Conrad Bell, Decisive magazine's editor-in-chief, "The Hyundai Veloster is a combination of a hip and edgy image, along with exceptional value to price and outstanding fuel economy that is perfectly suited for urban drivers. Hyundai's choice to make its halo car an entry-level model excites us even more. With Veloster, Hyundai definitely proves that high style and reasonable pricing absolutely can go together."

2012 Urban Car of the Year runners-up are: Chevrolet Sonic and the MINI Coupe.

Photo credit: www.urbanwheelawards.com

Range Rover Evoque - Urban Truck of the Year: "The Range Rover Evoque is a compelling blend of a long and deeply respected heritage; sinfully indulgent luxury; outstanding capability both on the road and off; all married to pure, unadulterated sex appeal made this award a slam-dunk for Land Rover," said Lyndon Conrad Bell, editor-in-chief of Decisive magazine. "Then, on top of all of that, Evoque's small size and exceptional fuel efficiency makes it a superlative match for urban environments. In other words, the Range Rover Evoque embraces all of our sensibilities. It's as if Land Rover specifically set out to build the Urban Truck of The Year."

2012 Urban Truck of the Year runners-up are: Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 and the Mercedes-Benz M Class.

Photo credit: www.urbanwheelawards.com

Toyota Prius Plug-in - Urban Green Vehicle of the Year: "This is the Prius everyone has been waiting for," said Lyndon Conrad Bell, editor-in-chief of Decisive magazine. "Endowing the world's favorite hybrid with the ability to run purely on electric power for significant distances and recharge itself from an AC outlet remade an exceptional urban green car into the ideal urban green car. Thanks to the extended range afforded the Prius Plug-in, in many cases the car will consume no gasoline at all in city driving. Yet, when called upon to travel long distances, it will do so without the dreaded range anxiety that still plagues so many pure electrics. Thus, this perfect urban green vehicle is reliable on long distance tours as well."

2012 Urban Green Vehicle of the Year runners-ups are: Infiniti M35h and Mitsubishi i-MiEV.

The multicultural and multi-gender Urban Vehicles of the Year judging panel is comprised of some of the most notable and respected automotive reviewers in America, The panel includes: Camilo Alfaro of Auto Proyecto; Mary Chapman, Freelance Reviewer; Arv Voss, of Auto Impressions and Frank Washington, AboutThatCar.com.

For event and sponsorship information, please e-mail us at events@decisivemag.com or log on to www.urbanwheelawards.com for more details.

ABOUT THE URBAN WHEEL AWARDS

The 16th Annual Urban Wheel Awards is a world-class awards show, held during the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS). The only Official Multicultural Event held in conjunction with the NAIAS, the awards promote diversity inclusion in the nation's largest auto show and brings together celebrities, automotive executives, international media, government representatives and the multicultural community to celebrate diversity accomplishment in the automotive industry. The festivities begin at 2:00 p.m. with a vehicle exhibit, followed by a reception at 4:00 p.m. to honor William "Bill" Perkins, the first African-American Chairman of the NAIAS. The celebrity Green Carpet and VIP reception follows at 5:30 p.m. and the awards show will take place from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. An afterglow networking reception will conclude the evening. Proceeds from the event support the Emerging Diversity Education Fund, which provides internships, scholarship and mentoring to students pursuing careers in the auto industry, communications, and Green jobs.

Source: Decisive Magazine