The redesigned Toyota Camry has been named Motor Trend Magazine's 2007 "Car of the Year".

The prestigious award was announced on Wednesday and went to all Camry models, including the impressive hybrid.

The Toyota Camry, America's hottest-selling car, held off strong competition from the Dodge Caliber, Volkswagen Rabbit, Porsche Cayman, Jaguar XK and the Jeep Compass to scoop the coveted title.

"Creating an innovative, engaging automobile with broad mainstream appeal is one of the toughest tasks facing any automaker," said Angus MacKenzie, editor in chief of Motor Trend.

"The Camry is the one car rival automakers all wish they could build. It offers something for nearly everyone - performance, efficiency, and roominess - at a price point most Americans can afford."

He added: "Toyota offers the Camry with a regular four cylinder engine, or a sporty V-6 that enables it to hit 60mph in just six seconds - that's about as fast as a V-8 musclecar from the 60s and 70s.

"Buyers looking for ultimate fuel economy can choose the Camry Hybrid, which uses the same innovative hybrid powertrain technology as Toyota’s Prius to save gas."

Other cars on the shortlist included the Chrysler Sebring, Saturn Aura, Nissan Altima, Kia Rondo and last year's winner the Honda Civic.

According to figures from Autodata, Toyota sold 350,481 Camrys between January and October to lead all cars in US sales.

MacKenzie went on to say that Toyota, which is celebrating its second Car of the Year award in four years, has achieved something remarkable at a time when the competition has never been so "fierce" and the industry so "diversified".

"It is difficult to do a mainstream car well, but Toyota has succeeded beyond anyone's expectations in creating the 21st century American family sedanm," he said.

"The Camry is a car designed for, and made in, America, with American tastes in mind, and it is now on track to become the first car in nearly three decades to sell 450,000 units in a single year in the US.

"The 2007 Camry is the exemplar of not only building the right car, but building it the right way.

"We should add that the Camry won in a very strong field. There have never been more choices available to American car buyers. That is a fact of life in the 21st century."

Last month, the popular motoring magazine named the Mercedes-Benz GL450 its sport utility vehicle (SUV) of 2007.