Motor Trend announced today that the 2014 Cadillac CTS sedan is its Car of the Year for 2014. It's the second time the CTS has won the award.

For the second time since its introduction, the Cadillac CTS is Motor Trend’s Car of the Year. It captured the honor in 2008 as well.

Not only did it win for a second time in less than a decade, but also it beat out two other finalists – the much-hyped Chevrolet Corvette Stingray and Mazda3 – as well as the new Mercedes-Benz E-Class and BMW 5 Series, which did not make the finals, to do so.

“It had to beat [Mercedes and BMW] on style, on performance, on comfort, and on quality. It has,” the magazine said.

In discussing why the Caddy stood apart from the competition, Motor Trend noted the CTS chassis and praised the vehicle’s two powerplants: a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder putting out 272 horsepower and a 3.6-liter twin-turbo six-cylinder developing 321 hp.

The 2014 CTS price starts at $46,025, including a $925 destination charge.

All contenders are evaluated on three separate courses at a professional automotive test center before finalists are selected. Out of 22 contending 2014 models, Motor Trend’s judges picked seven Car of the Year finalists, in addition to the Cadillac CTS: BMW 4 Series, Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, Jaguar F-Type, Kia Forte, Mazda3, Mazda6 and Mercedes-Benz S-Class.

Each finalist is then driven on a real-world road loop that provides a range of surfaces and traffic conditions to evaluate ride and handling, engine and transmission smoothness and responsiveness, wind and road noise, and ergonomics. In the final phase of Car of the Year, Motor Trend judges debate and evaluate each vehicle in a variety of categories.

This may be the first of several accolades for the Detroit-based automaker as it has five vehicles in the running for the North American Car and Truck of the Year (NACTOY) awards.

The list includes the Buick Encore, Cadillac CTS, Chevrolet Corvette and Chevy Impala in the passenger car category, with the Chevrolet Silverado/GMC Sierra pickups on the truck/utility side.

(In spite of impressive products, GM struggling to regain market share. For more, Click Here.)

GM would be among the rare makers to pull off a sweep if it takes both trophies home on Jan. 13, when the final NACTOY results are announced during the opening ceremonies of the 2014 Detroit Auto Show.

Cadillac, meanwhile, would be among an only slightly larger group to take home the passenger car award if the CTS followed last year’s victory by the Caddy ATS model.

(Click Here to see short list for North American Car and Truck of the Year.)

Despite an onslaught of impressive and highly lauded new vehicles, GM is struggling to increase its market share substantially. The automaker’s four brands – Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC – have seen its share drop over the last five years from 22.8% to its current 18%. However, the current rate is marginally higher than the 17.9% at the beginning of the year and the maker’s luxury unit has played a critical role in that increase.

Cadillac sales are up 27% this year to 148,206 units and the CTS is set to arrive in dealerships by the end of the year and the Cadillac ELR electric coupe will arrive in early 2014. GM also plans to deliver the redesigned 2015 Cadillac Escalade in the first quarter of 2014.