And in a surprise to no one...

For those of you who've been sitting on the edge of your seat waiting for the announcement, Chevrolet Volt was just named Motor Trend's car of the year.

This ranks right up there with the sun rising in the East each day in terms of predictability. Sure, if they wanted to give it to an alternative fuel vehicle, they could have given it to the Nissan Leaf, but GM was not going to let that happen.

The success of the Volt is too important to the company's image to have an award this well known go to another electric car. So they bought it.

In case you're not aware, in automotive circles, it's well known that the Car of the Year Award goes to the highest bidder; the company that's willing to commit to the most aggressive marketing plan in both the magazine and for the award.

So you'll see pages of Chevy and GM ads gracing the pages of Motor Trend and its sister publications. You'll see the trophy plastered in ads (I found out through a post on GM's facebook page). I have no doubt the TV spot is ready to rule the airwaves this evening.

It's absolutely the right thing for GM to do. And frankly the Volt is an interesting enough car to deserve this award. It's just not the independent validation of excellence that Motor Trend claims it to be.