Honda Civic named North American Car of the Year

For the third time, the Honda Civic has been named the North American Car of the Year.

The Civic, which also won the award in 2006 and 2016, beat out the Lucid Air and VW Golf GTI/Golf R. The sedan version of the Civic is made in Alliston, Ontario, while the hatchback is made in Greensburg, Indiana.

“The Honda Civic has long set the standard by which other compact cars are measured and this all-new Civic raised that bar in every conceivable way," Michael Kistemaker, assistant vice president of Honda national sales, American Honda Motor Co., said in a company news release.

The 11th generation of the Civic was redesigned from the ground-up, featuring a more rigid body structure and new standard safety, driver-assistive and connected-car technologies. Honda has produced nearly 11 million Civics in North America since Honda began making cars in America 1982.

Other award winners are: 

• The Ford Maverick, North American Truck of the Year. The Maverick took the truck crown over the Hyundai Santa Cruz and Rivian R1T. Electric Vehicle nominees were most prevalent in the truck category, where startup and legacy automakers alike see an opportunity to use maximize the performance of electric motors' torque.

• The Ford Bronco, North American SUV of the Year. The Bronco, a heavy favorite, won over the Genesis GV70 and Hyundai Ioniq 5. SUVs are America's favorite non-pickup vehicle and now take 70% of the market versus 30% for cars.

The winners were whittled from an initial list of 36 eligible cars, trucks and utility vehicles.The awards are judged by a panel of 50 independent journalists from the U.S. and Canada.

Information from The Columbus Dispatch is included in this report.

Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.