Semifinalists for the prestigious 2018 North American Car, Truck and Utility of the Year were announced Friday morning, and the list is as notable for what did not make it as for what did.<\/p>\n
For the first time in the award\u2019s 25-year history, not a single Detroit-based automaker is nominated for Car of the Year \u2014 a sign of the massive market shift to sport utility vehicles over sedans.<\/p>\n
Since the 2008 recession, SUV sales have surged to over 60 percent of market share, with General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. studying whether to end production of full-size and subcompact autos. No new Detroit Three sedans were eligible for this year\u2019s NACTOY selection process.<\/p>\n
Ironically, one of the year\u2019s most anticipated vehicles is a sedan, the Tesla Model 3. But Tesla withdrew the Silicon Valley-made electric vehicle, saying it is focused on scaling up production and could not have a car available for jury testing.<\/p>\n
GM leads all manufacturers with four nominees in the truck and utility categories. Up for Utility of the Year will be the midsize Buick Enclave, and GM\u2019s Chevrolet division will have three nominees for the NACTOY trophy. The compact Chevy Equinox and mid-size Traverse will compete for best ute while the Colorado ZR2 pickup truck will vie for Truck of the Year honors against the Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator \u2014 the only nominees from the Blue Oval stable.<\/p>\n
Ford\u2019s stunning GT supercar was deemed ineligible for NACTOY in July due to its low sales volume, its $450,000 sticker price and lack of availability to the general public. Ford has selected all 750 buyers of the GT through an application process.<\/p>\n
Also ineligible was Dodge\u2019s halo, 840-horsepower Challenger SRT Demon coupe that has set a production car record 9.65-second quarter-mile time. With the same drivetrain and structure as Dodge\u2019s 707-horse Challenger SRT Hellcat \u2014 introduced for the 2015 model year \u2014 the Demon is not sufficiently altered to meet NACTOY\u2019s criteria as a separate model.<\/p>\n
Other notables vying for top SUV are the Alfa Romeo Stelvio, Honda Odyssey, and VW Atlas and Tiguan. The Stelvio, the Italian brand\u2019s first SUV, will square off against perennial favorites from Audi and BMW. Minivans have also seen their market share crater in the face of the SUV juggernaut, but Honda has doubled down on its popular Odyssey minivan bringing new tech to market like a horizontally-sliding second-row seat. And VW hopes to put Dieselgate in its rear-view mirror with two three-row SUVs tailored for the US market.<\/p>\n
Despite its its diminished status, the car category will feature a face-off between two of the industry\u2019s iconic models \u2014 the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord. Determined to remain relevant (and maintain their 300,000-plus unit sales) in Ute Nation, the two sedans received major chassis, styling, and tech updates for 2018 that blur the distinction between luxury and mainstream sedans.<\/p>\n
They will be clear favorites, but other notables in the car class are BMW\u2019s premium benchmark 5-series, the sexy Alfa Romeo Giulia, and athletic Kia Stinger fastback which the Korea automaker has positioned as a halo vehicle for the brand\u2019s sporty vibe.<\/p>\n
The NACTOY award is one of the industry\u2019s most prestigious. Some 60 auto experts from the U.S. and Canada, including the author of this article, will evaluate the nominees in October over a week of grueling testing, flogging and eyeballing in the Metro Detroit area.<\/p>\n
Three finalists from each category will be selected and announced at the Los Angeles Auto Show in late November. The winners will be unveiled January 14 at the opening of the 2018 Detroit auto show.<\/p>\n
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.<\/p>\n
Semifinalists<\/strong><\/p>\n Car<\/p>\n 2018 Alfa Romeo Giulia<\/p>\n 2018 Audi A5 Sportback<\/p>\n 2017 BMW 5-series<\/p>\n 2018 Honda Accord<\/p>\n 2017 Hyundai Ioniq<\/p>\n 2018 Kia Rio<\/p>\n 2018 Kia Stinger<\/p>\n 2018 Lexus LC500<\/p>\n 2017 Porsche Panamera<\/p>\n 2018 Subaru Impreza<\/p>\n 2018 Toyota Camry<\/p>\n Utility<\/p>\n 2018 Alfa Romeo Stelvio<\/p>\n 2018 Audi Q5\/S5<\/p>\n 2018 BMW X3<\/p>\n 2018 Buick Enclave<\/p>\n 2018 Chevrolet Equinox<\/p>\n 2018 Chevrolet Traverse<\/p>\n 2018 Honda Odyssey<\/p>\n 2017 Jeep Compass<\/p>\n 2017 Kia Niro<\/p>\n 2018 Land Rover Discovery<\/p>\n 2017 Mazda CX-5<\/p>\n 2018 Subaru Crosstrek<\/p>\n 2018 VW Atlas<\/p>\n 2018 VW Tiguan<\/p>\n 2018 Volvo XC60<\/p>\n Truck<\/p>\n 2018 Chevrolet Colorado ZR2<\/p>\n 2018 Ford Expedition<\/p>\n 2018 Lincoln Navigator<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Semifinalists for the prestigious 2018 North American Car, Truck and Utility of the Year were announced Friday morning, and the list is as notable for what did not make it as for what did. For the first time in the award\u2019s 25-year history, not a single Detroit-based automaker is nominated for Car of the Year […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21097"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21097"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21097\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21098,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21097\/revisions\/21098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}