FoMoCo and Hyundai are celebrating after the list of finalists for the 2009 North American Car and Truck of the Year awards were revealed today. The list includes two vehicles from Ford including the Ford Flex and the 2009 Ford F-150. Hyundai’s Genesis sedan also made the list – making it the first time a Korean automaker has ever made the list.

Other cars on the list include the Volkswagen Jetta TDI, Mercedes-Benz ML 320 BlueTec and the 2009 Dodge Ram pickup.

Last year, the Chevrolet Malibu won the car of the year award and the Mazda CX-9 took the honors for the top truck.

More than 50 vehicles were considered this year. Winners will be announced Jan. 11 at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show.

Here are the vehicles on which the jurors voted:

    2009 North American Car of the Year nominees
    Audi A4
    BMW 1 Series
    Cadillac CTS-V
    Dodge Challenger
    Ford Flex
    Honda Fit
    Hyundai Genesis
    Jaguar XF
    Lincoln MKS
    Mazda 6
    Nissan GT-R
    Pontiac G8
    Toyota Venza
    Volkswagen Jetta TDI
2009 North American Truck of the Year nominees

    BMW X6
    Chevrolet Traverse
    Dodge Ram
    Ford F-150
    Honda Pilot
    Infiniti FX35/50
    Kia Borrego
    Mercedes-Benz ML320 BlueTEC
    Nissan Murano
    Subaru Forester
    Volkswagen Tiguan

Source: Yahoo

Nelly will see his brand new customized 2009 Ford Flex for the first time today when it is unveiled at the 2008 SEMA Auto Show in Las Vegas. The, 34-year old rapper turned actor says that he fell for the Flex when he saw it at a Ford-sponsored event in Atlanta – his home town. How convenient.

“When I saw it, I said ‘Yo, that’s hot!  How can I get one of those?’” he recalled.  “I thought it was a real unique vehicle.”

What’s more convenient is later that night Nelly ran into DJ Funkmaster Flex who also owns a customized Flex. Nelly shared his excitement with Funkmaster Flex and well Funkmaster made some phone calls and now Nelly has his own.

If you care to learn more about all this excitement follow the jump for the press release.

Press Release:

“NELLY” FLEX UNVEILED AT SEMA SHOW

LAS VEGAS, Nev., Nov. 4, 2008 – Grammy Award-winning artist Nelly will see his brand new customized 2009 Ford Flex for the first time today when the vehicle is unveiled on the Ford stand at the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show in Las Vegas.

The 34-year-old rapper, singer and actor says Ford’s newest crossover caught his eye for the first time in July when it was on display at a Ford-sponsored event in Atlanta.

“When I saw it, I said ‘Yo, that’s hot!  How can I get one of those?’” he recalled.  “I thought it was a real unique vehicle.”

Later that night, Nelly shared his excitement about the car with his good friend, hip hop DJ Funkmaster Flex, who has a customized Flex of his own.  That’s when the metaphorical wheels started turning.

“I’ve been partnering with Ford on some amazing vehicles since 2005,” said Funkmaster Flex. When Nelly reached out on wanting a custom Flex of his own, I knew it was going to be ‘on and poppin.’  From our initial meeting with him at my warehouse in the Bronx to follow-up conversations that we had about this vehicle, there was no doubt that we could deliver something that would ultimately be true to Nelly and his own style”.

“When it comes to a vehicle looking sweet, this crossover is beyond sweet,” said Flex of the crossover. “This vehicle is one where you can be hot coming off the dealership lot—which is a plus, but when you know that you can customize it afterwards and turn a car that’s a 10 into a 20—that’s super hot.” It was even more exciting for me to be able to work with Nelly and introduce him to the Ford team of designers to create a vehicle all his own. It was definitely an experience.”

Usha Raghavachari, Ford’s Crossover Marketing Communications Manager, attended the initial event in Atlanta and says she was delighted to see how enthusiastic Nelly was about the Flex.

“He is a huge hip hop star who transcends the traditional audience.  The fact that he is attracted to Flex is testament to its head-turning design,” she said.

Nelly says he was thrilled about the idea of “building” his own Flex.

“I’m what they call a ‘premiere stuntastic stuntman,’ and so you know when it comes to cars, I’m pretty inclined to go overboard,” he said.  “I wanted to really turn the vehicle into mine.  You can do so much with it, and I think that’s the best thing about it.”

After meeting with Nelly and getting a feel for his taste, Ford Designer Melvin Betancourt began sketching.

“Just from talking with Nelly, we knew that he wanted a custom-color blue car with a white roof, a great sound system, 22-inch wheels, an exhaust system with a little bit of a rumble on it, and a personalized interior,” said Betancourt, who worked with Catalyst Industrial Marking, Inc. to build the vehicle.  “He wanted our input on the other elements of the customization.”

One of the first ideas they had, says Betancourt, was to design a custom appliqué for the roof.

“We created an art form that we feel reflects Nelly’s personality,” he said.  “It’s a bird, which is a symbol of freedom — the ability to do whatever you want in life — and it has a very modern feel to it, which is very Flex.”

The wheels had to stand out.  So the team chose NC Forged “6 Spoke” 3-piece aluminum, 22-inch wheels with NC floating center caps.

“Wheels are usually either all-chrome or all-painted.  We did custom chrome rims with a brushed aluminum center, which is very unusual,” he said.  “We also wanted a wild, crazy offset on the wheels, so we went with a 4½-inch rim in the back and a 3-inch rim in the front, which creates a staggered look.”

Betancourt says the inspiration for the interior of the vehicle came largely from the exterior.

“The outside of the car reflects his personality, so it was a matter of bringing the some of the same elements inside,” he said.

The team selected a black Tuscany leather interior with Katzkin® seats and contrast blue stitching that picks up the unique exterior color of the car.  They also replaced all the wood grain trim inside the car with the same artwork appliqué featured on the roof.

In addition, Nelly’s Flex features the industry-exclusive Ford SYNC™ technology and a CIM LIIV™ wireless Internet entertainment system, which enables passengers to enjoy web surfing, online games, e-mail, downloaded movies, music and live television.

Nelly says one of the things that really attracts him to the Ford Flex is the vehicle’s potential to transcend the generation gap.

“It used to be that parents and kids didn’t like the same thing.  Families are getting a lot younger, and now it’s kind of a friendship between parents and kids,” he explained.  “When you can have a vehicle that both can rock their own way, I think you have something there that’s very special.”

Raghavachari agrees.

“Flex has successfully attracted a wide variety of people to Ford, with over half our customers being completely new to the Ford brand,” she said.  “This car helps our customers make a real statement about themselves and allows us to make a statement about where Ford is headed in terms of design and innovation.”

CGS Motorsports will try to help FoMoCo re-emphasize the Flex with their version of the crossover called “ReFlex.” The tuner, known for its high-performance exhaust systems and air intake systems for the Big 3, will bring the ReFlex to the 2008 SEMA Auto Show next month.

Designed by Sean Smith of SS Designs, the ReFlex features custom paint by DuPont Refinishes, 22-inch Bonspeed wheels, Pirelli tires, custom leather by Roadwire, door solenoids by SPAL, suede interior by Keyston Bros and a custom sound system by Kicker with Clarion navigation.

We won’t be attending SEMA 2008 this year, which is probably a sigh of relief for some of you who hate the show.

Click through for the press release.

CGS ReFlex:

Press Release:
CGS Motorsports is one of the leading manufacturers of High Performance Cat Back Exhaust Systems and Air Intake Systems for late model cars, trucks, & SUVs.

Besides being one of the leading manufacturers of Performance Products, CGS has also become one of the leading creators of many SEMA Show vehicles over the years. CGS has built several trucks and SUVs for the Big 3.

Once again, CGS is creating another SEMA Show vehicle for Ford, which will be showcased at the 2008 SEMA Show. They will be customizing a new ‘09 Ford Flex, designed by Sean Smith of SS Designs, and named “ReFlex.”

This new crossover SUV will feature custom paint by DuPont Refinishes with paint preparation by 3M, 22″ one-off Bonspeed wheels, Pirelli Tires, Custom leather from Roadwire, door solenoids by SPAL, suede interior of Keyston Bros., and a custom sound system by Kicker featuring a Clarion navigation head unit.

As illustrated in the rendering, ReFlex will feature a one-off body kit, Sean Smith and the design team at CGS will clay up the body kit until it looks just the way they envisioned it. The CGS team is also designing and building hand made chrome moldings to separate the two tone paint scheme. So be sure to check out the completed ReFlex at this year SEMA show in Las Vegas, NV. www.cgsmotorsports.com

Just yesterday, Ford announced that it will offer a $2,500 cash back incentive on the 2009 Ford Flex due to slow sales. Today,Consumer Reports has announced that the Flex along with the Mazda CX-9 are one of the top five three-row SUVs they tested.

“Ford’s new Flex wraps a versatile, cavernous interior in a distinctly boxy styling,” the magazine writes. “It is also lower and more wagon-like than the others in this class.”

Among 17 models tested, the new Ford Flex and Mazda CX-9 came in behind the Acura MDX and the Toyota Highlander and Highlander Hybrid. Flex came in at No.4 followed by the CX-9 at No.5. The two were followed by GM’s two Lambda crossovers, the GMC Acadia and Saturn Outlook.

The new redesigned Honda Pilot, once a top rated SUV in the category, fell to No. 11.

Click through to see the top 10 list.

1. Toyota Highlander Hybrid
2. Toyota Highlander
3. Acura MDX
4. Ford Flex
5. Mazda CX-9
6. GMC Acadia
7. Saturn Outlook
8. Hyundai Veracruz
9. Buick Enclave
10. Ford Taurus X

Source: FreePress

Despite all the hype and buzz generated around Ford’s new crossover, the Flex, sales have been so-so. Sales of the Flex are slated under 30,000 units annually, rather than the 70,000 – 100,000 predicted by Ford. Of course, the declining sales in the SUV segment play a major part.

To help boost sales, Ford is no offering a $2,500 incentive on the Flex in most regions. KickingTires says that the $2,500 cash back is available in the Midwest, South, Northeast and Southern California. In Texas, Ford is offering a $2,000 cash back incentive on the Flex.

The 2009 Ford Flex starts at $28,295.

Source: KickingTires