![\"Ford](\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2020\/12\/17\/PDTN\/6b952686-cde9-4169-9ec3-6b6088a97075-Mustang_Mach-E_06.jpg?width=660&height=440&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp\")
<\/p>\nReflecting trends in the industry, Asian makers dominated\u00a0the car category, Detroit automakers swept\u00a0all three truck finalists, and the three SUV finalists were all premium-priced vehicles at a time when the average price of a new vehicle is pushing $40,000.<\/p>\n
The F-150, perennially the best-selling pickup in the US, will be the odds-on favorite to win best truck with a comprehensive\u00a02021 redesign that includes the truck\u2019s first\u00a0hybrid model. Its competitors are the off-road capable Jeep Gladiator Mojave midsize truck, and the first 700-plus horsepower pickup, the ferocious Ram 1500 TRX (pronounced T. rex).<\/p>\n Ford is also the front-runner to win Utility of the Year with its Tesla Model Y-fighting Mustang Mach-E. The $44,000 electric SUV is the first time that Ford has expanded Mustang into a sub-brand offering models beyond its core muscle cars. The elegant\u00a0$50,000 Genesis GV80 will be a close contender as Hyundai\u2019s value luxury brand makes its first foray into SUVs. The iconic\u00a0$47,000\u00a0Land Rover Defender is the Jeep Wrangler of the luxury set. The first Defender to hit US shores in 40 years, it stars in the forthcoming James Bond flick, \u201cNo Time to Die.\u201d<\/p>\n The finalists emerged from\u00a0an intensely\u00a0competitive\u00a0field including GM\u2019s lineup of popular SUVs\u00a0\u2014\u00a0the Cadillac Escalade, Chevrolet Tahoe\/Suburban\u00a0and Chevrolet Trailblazer. Other wannabes included the Nissan Rogue, Ford Bronco Sport, Hyundai Santa Fe\u00a0and Mazda CX-30.<\/p>\n Detroit automakers have put all their chips on SUVs and trucks, leaving the sedan field to Japanese carmakers.<\/p>\n The affordable Nissan Sentra and Hyundai Elantra will the favorites against the luxurious Genesis G80, the sister sedan to its GV80 ute. The affordable Sentra is a prime example of the democratization of autos with the $25,000 compact offering standard features like adaptive cruise-control, leather interior, sunroof\u00a0and Apple CarPlay connectivity not found on luxury vehicles twice its price. \u00a0Yet, the Elantra may have the upper hand in the voting race as it offers a vast lineup including a hybrid and N-line sport nodel.<\/p>\n The trio beat out a field of formidable group 2021\u00a0contenders, including the Polestar 2 \u2013 the car from Volvo\u2019s EV brand \u2013 the Kia K5\u00a0\u00a0and industry heavies like the Acura TLX and Cadillac CT4.<\/p>\n \u201cIn this very challenging year, these nine vehicles emerged as our Finalists out of an unusually strong field of 27 Semifinalists,\u201d said NACTOY president Gary Witzenburg. \u201cEach one of them \u2013 especially the 15 in the ultra-competitive utility vehicle category \u2013 is excellent in nearly every way.\u201d<\/p>\n NACTOY is the most prestigious independent\u00a0prize awarded in North America with a jury of over 50 auto journalists. Final voting is early next year, and the winners will be announced in Detroit on Jan. 11.<\/p>\n 2021 NACTOY finalists<\/strong><\/p>\n Car of the Year<\/strong><\/p>\n Genesis G80<\/p>\n Hyundai Elantra<\/p>\n Nissan Sentra<\/p>\n Truck of the Year<\/strong><\/p>\n Ford F-150<\/p>\n Jeep Gladiator Mojave<\/p>\n Ram 1500 TRX<\/p>\n Utility Vehicle of the Year<\/strong><\/p>\n Ford Mustang Mach-E<\/p>\n Genesis GV80<\/p>\n Land Rover Defender<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Finalists for 2021 North American Car, Truck and Utility Vehicle of the Year Awards were announced Thursday, with Ford and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles scoring two contenders each. Ford\u2019s all-new Ford F-150 pickup is a finalist for Truck of the Year, with Ford’s first all-electric crossover \u2013 the Mach-E \u2013 picked as a finalist SUV of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"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\/26499"}],"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\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26499"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26499\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26500,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26499\/revisions\/26500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Ram](\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2020\/12\/17\/PDTN\/7fa127de-b5a1-449a-826c-8ba2de78daee-RM021_549FN4t0oung93mm4cf4li34gj4up08.jpg?width=660&height=440&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp\")
<\/p>\n![\"Jeep](\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2020\/12\/17\/PDTN\/8172c24b-8270-4ea6-ab0c-ee23f6ee77ec-JP021_299GLoagmsfaqqrlgeo658gebgp576r.jpg?width=660&height=440&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp\")
<\/p>\n![\"Ford](\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2020\/12\/17\/PDTN\/81e5458d-9ac9-43c7-8a6c-325a793638b5-All-new_F-150_003.JPG?width=660&height=440&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp\")
<\/p>\n