Most of the 2010 model-year cars have been released, so it's time to start picking the best of them.  Autoblog reports, "The organizers of the North American Car and Truck of the Year awards have just released the short list of vehicles that they have deemed worthy of consideration for this year's awards. The winning vehicles will be announced in January at the North American International Auto Show." 

A jury of 50 automotive journalists will select the winners.  Detroit Free Press columnist Mark Phelan, one of the jurors, explains, "We consider innovation, design, safety, performance, driver satisfaction, value and a vehicle's significance. We'll have the opportunity to test the vehicles on the short list again" before voting for the winners.

Ford and General Motors however, can already be declared big winners.  Four Ford products and five GM products make the lists.  Toyota, on the other hand, sees only one vehicle nominated this year.

Motor Authority comments, "Perhaps as interesting as the cars that did make the list below are the cars that didn't make it past the nominee stage."  Impressive vehicles like the Hyundai Genesis Coupe, Audi S4 and redesigned Toyota 4Runner have already been cut from the list.

One automaker was left out entirely. Edmunds Inside Line notes, "Notably absent from the short-list ballot: Chrysler."

A few surprising candidates remain on the list as well.  Every year, we're surprised to see a few cars make the final round of voting even though no one in the press has yet driven them.  This year, both the Suzuki Kizashi midsize car and Honda Accord Crosstour crossover have reached the short list, but journalists haven't been allowed to see the Kizashi in motion...and have only seen the Crosstour in photos.  Suzuki will allow auto writers to test drive the Kizashi for the first time next week, while Honda hasn't announced a testing schedule for the Crosstour.

The short list of nominees for 2010 North American Car of the Year:

BMW 335d
Buick LaCrosse
Cadillac CTS Sport Wagon
Chevrolet Camaro
Ford Fusion/Fusion Hybrid
Ford Taurus/Taurus SHO
Honda Insight
Kia Soul
Mazda3/MazdaSpeed3
Mercedes-Benz E-Class
Porsche Panamera
Subaru Legacy
Suzuki Kizashi
Toyota Prius
Volkswagen Golf

The short list of nominees for 2010 North American Truck of the Year:

Acura ZDX
Audi Q5
Cadillac SRX
Chevrolet Equinox
Ford Transit Connect
Honda Crosstour
Land Rover LR4
Lincoln MKT
Subaru Outback
Volvo XC60

If you're in the market for a new car, check out the U.S. News rankings of this year's best cars as well as this month's best car deals.