Maverick

Make
Ford
Segment
Sports Car

The North American Car, Truck, and Utility Vehicle of the Year (NACTOY) Awards recognize the most highly rated new vehicles on sale in the US. For the 2022 awards, the list of 23 semifinalists has been revealed at Motor Bella. Along with some familiar nameplates, this year's semifinalists comprise more electric vehicles than ever before, while trucks also feature prominently. For the 2021 event, the North American Car of the Year was the Hyundai Elantra, while the Ford F-150 and Mustang Mach-E took home the awards for the best truck and utility vehicle respectively. Hyundai and Ford have once again appeared as semifinalists for 2022.

The 2022 semifinalists for Car of the Year are, in alphabetical order, the Audi A3, Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing, Genesis G70, Honda Civic, Lucid Air, Mercedes-Benz EQS, Mercedes-Benz S-Class, and Volkswagen Golf Mk VIII, including both the Golf GTI and Golf R. The Subaru BRZ and Toyota GR 86 twins both missed out on a semifinal spot, as did the Karma GS-6 and Maserati MC20.

The truck semifinalists are the Ford Maverick, GMC Hummer EV, Hyundai Santa Cruz, Nissan Frontier, Rivian R1T, and Toyota Tundra. The only truck from the list of candidates to miss out on a semifinal spot was the Ford F-150 Raptor. We expect the Hyundai Santa Cruz's many talents will make it tough to beat, even if it isn't a rugged truck in the traditional sense.

The final category is the North American Utility Vehicle of the Year. Here, the semifinalists are the Ford Bronco, Genesis GV70, Hyundai Ioniq 5, Hyundai Tucson, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Jeep Wagoneer/Grand Wagoneer, Kia Carnival, Nissan Pathfinder, and VW ID.4. The ID.4 already won the 2021 World Car of the Year award.

"This year's group of semifinalists includes some of the most interesting and innovative cars, trucks, and utility vehicle candidates in recent memory," said NACTOY President Gary Witzenburg. "It features more electric vehicles than we've ever seen, all of which our jurors will continue to test and evaluate prior to our next vote."

Three finalists will be selected from each group and these will be announced on November 17 at the LA Auto Show. The winners will be announced in January next year in Detroit.