How North American Car, Truck and Utility of the Year winners did it

Posted by Talbot Payne on January 18, 2026

The NACTOY awards are among the industry's most prestigious honors. They're given at the Detroit Auto Show in January.

The NACTOY awards are among the industry’s most prestigious honors. They’re given at the Detroit Auto Show in January. Henry Payne, The Detroit News

Detroit — The envelope, please. . .

The North American Car, Truck and Utility Vehicle of the Year (NACTOY) awards held their big annual awards ceremony to Wednesday to open the Detroit Auto Show. After a deluge of electric product in recent years, the awards marked a return to bread-and-butter gas-powered muscle and utility.

Winner of Car of Year was the gas-fired Dodge Charger Sixpack coupe in a nail-biter over the Honda Prelude and Nissan Sentra. Ford has dominated Truck of the Year honors since 2021 and ’26 was no different with a runaway win by the Maverick Lobo. In another blowout, the Hyundai Palisade took home the Utility of the Year honor.

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