Motor Trend has announced that the Ford Fusion has won its Car of the Year award.

The Fusion isn’t a particularly exciting car. So why the win? Probably because the Ford Fusion has become the poster child for Detroit’s ability to build a good car for the average person. It’s the car that car enthusiasts now recommend to their aunt or their non-enthusiast friends when they don’t want to recommend a Toyota Camry or Honda Accord.

Why recommend the Fusion? Because it does everything fairly well, and nothing badly (except, in my experience, the comfort of the rear seat cushion). The Ford Fusion Sport variant, with a 3.5-liter V6 and optional AWD, is even fun to drive, if not quite a blast. (If they offered the new EcoBoost V6 in the Fusion, that WOULD be a blast.) Meanwhile, the Ford Fusion Hybrid earns the best EPA ratings in the midsize sedan class.

It also helps that the Fusion how has four model years with proven reliability.

Another finalist, the Camaro, as good as it is for what it is, is too much a symbol of the old Detroit way of doing things to win an award like this.