Ford and Toyota sweep SEMA awards for new-vehicle personalization
SEMA hands out quite a few awards during their event including “Best New Vehicles for Personalization” and “New Product Award Winners.” The first category is handed out to the top trending vehicle models to customize, a category that Ford and Toyota swept. The awards are voted on by exhibiting manufacturers. “The SEMA Award celebrates the industry’s unique ability to identify and set trends that influence automotive enthusiasts worldwide,” said Chris Kersting, SEMA president and CEO. “Consumers are able to look to SEMA Award winners for guidance on which vehicles offer the greatest opportunities for customization.” The five category award winners were:
- Car of the Year: Ford Mustang
- Sport Compact of the Year: Toyota Supra
- 4×4/SUV of the Year: Ford Bronco
- Full-size Truck of the Year: Ford F-Series
- Mid-Size Truck of the Year: Toyota Tacoma
The Bronco was no surprise here and was far and away the most displayed customized vehicle at SEMA this year. The second most popular vehicle in booths was the C8 Corvette so we were a little surprised to see the Mustang take the Car of the Year Award. Adding the Mach-E to the family may have helped the Mustang win this year. Showing the GR Supra Sport Top and GR Supra Heritage Edition in the Toyota booth was a great way to demonstrate its support of personalizing their cars. The overlanding and camper world has been exploding over the last couple of years and Toyota is embracing it with the Tacozilla and other customized trucks in their booth. The variety of options from Ford with the F-Series helped it win Full-Size Truck of Year. Whether it’s two-wheel-drive, or four-wheel-drive, is powered by an EcoBoost V-6 or turbo-diesel V-8, or is a half-ton or a dualie, they all fit under the same F-Series umbrella.
Do you agree with the winners? When you think of a car that encourages personalization, what comes to mind?
Here are some images of the winners from SEMA.
