The North American Car, Truck, and Utilities of the Year jury narrowed down the 26 semifinalists to vehicles for the major award. We’ll find out the winner on January 11, 2023, at a special event in Detroit, Michigan.
The North American Car of the Year finalists are:
The North American Truck of the Year finalists are:
The North American Utilities Finalists of the Year are:
“Our nine finalists for 2023 represent a diverse cross section of the year’s best new vehicles, from sports cars to power pickups to three electric utility vehicles – which is the first time in our history that all three finalists in a specific category are batteries. -electric,” said NACTOY President Gary Witzenburg.
The six EVs that became finalists for this award is a new record for NACTOY.
During October’s test drive event, the NACTOY judges took part in an informal poll on their thoughts on EVs. They believe that 50 percent of the vehicles up for the award will be electric by 2024 or 2025. They think “limits to public charging” is the main reason people don’t buy electric vehicles. Misinformation about models and costs is another major problem.
In June, organizer NACTOY announced 47 vehicles competing for this year’s award. There are 31 SUVs and crossovers, 13 cars and 3 trucks. They cut that down to 26 vehicles as semifinalists in September.
The jury of 50 automotive journalists from the United States and Canada began with a long list of all new or substantially updated vehicles in a year. Throughout the year, the judges whittled down the nominations to semifinalists, finalists, and finally the winner.
Last year, the Honda Civic was the North American Car of the Year. The Ford Maverick won the truck category, and the Bronco took the utility class.
