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Best of 2026: Nominees for North American Car, Truck and Utility of the Year unveiled
Posted by Talbot Payne on September 20, 2025
Detroit — Vehicles, take your marks.
The North American Car, Truck and Utility Vehicle of the Year awards announced their “Best of 2026” candidates this week. The list of 30 vehicles will compete in three different categories — car (six nominees), truck (five nominees), and utility vehicle (19 nominees).
American brands make up 11 of the entries, while ten nominees are electric. The number of electric vehicle nominees is down from 50% for the 2025 awards to 30% this year as EV sales have stabilized at 8% of the market and may decline as $7,500 government purchase subsidies end.
Through August this year, the average transaction price of a new vehicle was about $49,000, and the average price of the NACTOY nominees is $52k. The most affordable offering? The $23k Nissan Sentra while the most expensive sticker belongs to the electric $130k Cadillac Escalade IQ.
The NACTOY award is one of the industry’s most prestigious. It’s given at the Detroit Auto Show in January. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Culled from a list of 55 eligible new vehicles for the 2026 model year, the 30 nominees will be evaluated by NACTOY’s 50 jurors at their annual gathering in Ann Arbor October 21-23, after which three finalists in each category will be named at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November. The winners will be announced at the January 2026 Detroit Auto Show.
Car of the Year
The stylish Dodger Charger and affordable Kia K4 Hatchback and Nissan Sentra will be early front-runners for the car crown. The small number of nominees is evidence of a market dominated by SUVs, but the two Asian compacts are evidence that sedans are the market’s best value — especially when loaded with digital technology that could only be found on luxury vehicles a decade ago.
The front fascia is unique to SIXPACK-powered 2026 Dodge Charger models, with a larger, more pronounced grille area than all-electric Charger Daytona models to feed the turbo-6 beast behind. Stellantis, © 2025 Stellantis
Charger returns for the 2026 model year with an all-new lineup of coupes and four-door hatchbacks bearing gorgeous lines reminiscent of the classic, 1966 OG. The only Motown nominee in the category, the Dodge hopes to reboot brand sales with its visceral, gas-powered, inline-6 cylinder engine after sales of the 2025 Charger Daytona EV disappointed.
NACTOY awards are typically won by mainstream, volume brands, but the all-new Audi A5 gets major interior and exterior upgrades to go with its utilitarian hatchback. The sporty Honda Prelude returns to North America for the first time since 2001 — this time as a hybrid, and the Mercedes CLA is the lux maker’s entry-level offering at just over $40k.
2025 New York Auto Show: 2026 Kia K4 Hatchback. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Notable cars that did not make the Best list are the $329,000 Ford Mustang GTD and $167,000 Porsche 911 GTS T-Hybrid, the German brand’s first hybrid sports car. While boasting state-of-the-art tech, both are exclusive, small-volume cyborgs.
Truck of the Year
Detroit brands dominate the pickup truck space, and Ford and Ram dominate the nominees for 2026.
Ford’s new Lobo badge brings street-rod cred to the truck space with the Maverick Lobo, the favorite here given its $38k starting price and twin-rear clutch pack drifting capabilities (yes, a pickup drifter). The Ram 1500, however, is the early front-runner as Stellantis’s truck brand brings back the revered Hemi V-8, the truck’s volume engine that faced extinction before new management took over Washington’s EPA this year.
The 2026 Ram 1500 eTorque V-8 boasts 395 horsepower. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
The Rivian R1T Quad Motor is new to the American EV maker’s lineup and boasts a hypercar-like 1,025 horsepower and 0-60 mph time to match — all while towing 11,000 pounds with lots of cargo capacity. However, its $117k price tag means few can afford it.
SUV of the Year
The SUV aisle is where the U.S. consumer comes to shop, and brands have flooded the space with everything from compacts to three-row family haulers to battery-powered chariots.
The 500-pound gorilla in the room is the all-new, sixth-generation Toyota RAV4, the best-selling non-pickup in America. Sitting atop the biggest volume SUV segment, the compact RAV4 lineup is now all-hybrid with trims ranging from base hybrid to the adventure-ready Woodland trim to a new GR Sport offering.
Designers said the new Jeep Cherokee has some boxy design elements that call back to the 1980s and ’90s-era models. Stellantis
The Volkswagen Tiguan, Jeep Cherokee, and Subaru Forester Hybrid are all nipping at the heels of the Toyota with significantly upgraded vehicles. In the mid-size segment, Toyota’s Tacoma pickup-based 4Runner is ready to rumble off-road, while Honda’s Passport has been recast as an off-roader with standard all-wheel-drive and rugged looks. Three-row SUVs are all the rage with high-tech to go with their people-moving talents. The Hyundai Palisade, Hyundai Ioniq 9 EV, Cadillac Vistiq EV, Cadillac Escalade IQ EV, and Ford Expedition all made the list.
There are luxury entrants galore including a new Audi Q5, Genesis GV70, Lucid Gravity EV, Volvo EX30 EV, and Volvo’s sister performance EV brand, Polestar 4. Cadillac’s transition to all-electric is well-represented with three electric vehicles in contention including the Escalade IQ, Vistiq, and Optiq.
The latter is a sleeper for best SUV given its entry-level price point and striking styling. Its primary market competitor, the Tesla Model Y, did not make the cut. Despite being the third-best-selling non-pickup in the United States in ‘24 and the best-selling EV in the United States, the refreshed Y won’t be in contention.
Not a Tesla: The distinctive, 2025 Cadillac Optiq takes on the best-selling Model 3/Y. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Other notables that did not make the list are the GMC Terrain and highly-anticipated, boldly-redesigned Subaru Outback which will likely be released in 2026 and be on the jury menu for 2027 Utility of the Year.
The NACTOY Best of 2026 was announced at the restored Michigan Central Station in Corktown. Judged by 50 independent journalists from across North America (instead of a single publication or outlet as with other auto contests), the NACTOY trophy is one of the industry’s most prestigious baubles.
Bay City: After failing to charge at Electrify America, the 2025 Volvo EX30 stopped to charge a mile away at a Blink charger at a Ford dealer. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
The awards are intended to recognize vehicles that are benchmarks in their segments based on factors including innovation, design, safety, handling, driver satisfaction, user experience and value.
2026 North American Car of the Year candidates
Audi A5 $44,000
Dodge Charger $52,000
Honda Prelude $42,000
Kia K4 Hatchback $25,000
Mercedes-Benz CLA $43,000
Nissan Sentra $23,000
2026 North American Truck of the Year Candidates
Ford F-150 Lobo $60,000
Ford Maverick Lobo $38,000
Ram 1500 Hemi $46,000
Ram 2500 $48,000
Rivian R1T Quad Motor $117,000
2026 North American Utility Vehicle of the Year Candidates
Acura ADX $37,000
Audi Q5 $54,000
Cadillac Escalade IQ $130,000
Cadillac OPTIQ $52,000
Cadillac VISTIQ $79,000
Ford Expedition $65,000
Genesis GV70 $50,000
Honda Passport $46,000
Hyundai Ioniq 9 $61,000
Hyundai Palisade $41,000
Jeep Cherokee $38,000
Lucid Gravity $97,000
Nissan Leaf $26,000
Polestar 4 $58,000
Subaru Forester Hybrid $38,000
Toyota 4Runner $43,000
Toyota RAV4 Hybrid $34,000
Volkswagen Tiguan $31,000
Volvo EX30 $46,000
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.