Motorist Choice Awards

The Ford Taurus, Chevy Corvette, Toyota Prius all winners of the Motorist Choice Awards, from IntelliChoice and AutoPacific.

It's a unique competition among automotive awards.

"Rather than have the body style category--mid-size, sedan crossover, things like that--we looked at the way people shop for, and what they used their cars for" said Charlie Vogelheim, executive editor of Intellihoice.

Read the full list of Motorist Choice Awards winners here.

So they are giving out awards like "Eco Friendly," "Road Trip" and "Sexy Styling." There are fifteen categories in all, with winners for both premium and popular vehicles.

Vogelheim telling WWJ AutoBeat Reporter Jeff Gilbert that they awards were given based by combining IntelliChoice data on cost of ownership, with survey results from thousands of drivers.

(Jeff Gilbert talks with Charlie Vogelheim of IntelliChoice.)

The winners come from a diverse group of companies.

"It was really a broad spectrum of vehicles," Vogelheim said. "There were a number of Japanese and Korean manufacturers. There were European manufacturers and all of the domestic manufacturers."