NACOTY Awards Names Finalists in Car, Truck, and SUV Categories

The North American Car, Truck and Utility Vehicle of the Year awards, selected by 50 automotive journalists from across the U.S. and Canada, will go to three of the nine finalists that were announced Thursday at the Los Angeles Auto Show.

The finalists in the car category are the Honda Civic Hybrid, the Toyota Camry, and the Kia K4. In trucks, it’s the Ford Ranger, Toyota Tacoma, and Ram 1500. And in the sport utility category, the finalists are the Chevrolet Equinox EV, Hyundai Santa Fe and Volkswagen ID. Buzz.

“The competition for these awards will be fierce this year,” said NACTOY President Jeff Gilbert, who is also the automotive reporter for WWJ Radio in Detroit. “We have a well-balanced crop of EVs, hybrids, and gasoline-powered vehicles. It will be hard to narrow each category down to just one winner—they’re all great choices.”

The finalists were chosen from dozens of new vehicles that were gathered together and tested during a three-day evaluation outside Detroit last month. Vehicles must be new or substantially changed to be eligible. Jurors start with a long list of eligible vehicles and do a preliminary vote in September to narrow down the field. Full disclosure: I’m a juror.

The NACOTY awards were founded in 1994 as an alternative to existing “of the year” competitions, which are typically the product of a single media outlet. Originally awarded to one car and one truck, an SUV category was added in 2017 in recognition of the growing popularity of sport-utes. Minivans are judged in the Utility category, explaining the presence this year of the Volkswagen ID. Buzz.

Last year, the winning car was the Acura Integra, the winning truck the Ford F-150 Lightning, and the winning SUV the Kia EV6. This year, the awards will be announced at the Detroit Auto Show on January 10th.