Payne: How my bets fared for vehicles of the year

Posted by hpayne on January 18, 2018

The 2018 North American Car, Truck, and SUV race has been run and my horses didn’t win the trifecta. Heck, I didn’t even win a two-fecta.

I’m one of 58 jurors for the North American Car, Utility and Truck of the Year Awards, and every year we separate the industry’s latest models into three neat classes, whittle the contenders to three over a year-long marathon, and then vote our picks. They’re announced Monday at the opening of the Detroit auto show.

The Honda Accord sedan beat my pick for Car of the Year, the Kia Stinger. The Volvo XC60 nipped my Alfa Romeo Stelvio thoroughbred for SUV. Even my only winning entry, the Lincoln Navigator, for truck, feels weird.

The stunning Navigator is an SUV, after all, but was classified as a truck because — in a product cycle anamoly — the only new pickup for the 2018 model year was the ZR2 trim of the Chevrolet Colorado; the truck was introduced way back in 2014. So the truck-based Navigator and Ford Expedition — both built on the F-150’s bones — got pushed into the truck race. Kind of like Clydesdales racing an ox, don’t you think?

I asked Lincoln boss Kumar Galhotra if he really wanted to market the Navi as Truck of the Year.

“It means recognition of the brand we’re building,” he grinned next to the gorgeous NACTOY trophy.

The race for best car was a classic. The favorites were the Accord and Toyota Camry. With nimble handling and sleek, coupe-like shapes, the ’18 models are the best Accord and Camry ever.

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