{"id":30363,"date":"2023-01-12T15:50:43","date_gmt":"2023-01-12T19:50:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=30363"},"modified":"2023-01-12T22:39:27","modified_gmt":"2023-01-13T02:39:27","slug":"winners-2023-north-american-car-truck-utility-vehicle-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2023\/01\/winners-2023-north-american-car-truck-utility-vehicle-of-the-year","title":{"rendered":"Winners: 2023 North American Car, Truck & Utility Vehicle of the Year"},"content":{"rendered":"

And the gold medals go to . . .<\/p>\n

The Acura Integra, Ford F-150 Lightning and Kia EV6 took top honors in the 2023 North American Car, Truck and Utility Vehicle of the Year awards announced Wednesday morning.\u00a0The awards were dominated by electric vehicles this year as two-thirds of the finalists were battery-powered. For the first time, all three finalists in a single category (SUV) were EVs.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n
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The field was marked by a series of firsts, including Ford\u2019s first electric pickup truck, the first EVs from Korean makers Genesis and Kia, and startup-maker Lordstown Motors’ first vehicle. Only 5.8% of new vehicle sales were electric in 2022, but \u2014 reflecting government regulation and new market opportunities \u2014 42% of new vehicles were battery-powered.<\/p>\n

The car category was the most diverse, with a pair of iconic, gas-powered performance badges, the Acura Integra and Nissan Z, vying against the luxurious, all-electric Genesis G80 EV sedan. The car nominees were also the most affordable, with the Acura stickering at $31,895 and the Nissan starting at $41k.<\/p>\n

\"For<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Two of three trucks nominated, the Ford F-150 Lightning and Lordstown Endurance, are also electric. All three finalists had a starting price north of $55,000, with the $65,000 Endurance an unusual entry given that it is only offered to commercial fleet buyers.<\/p>\n

The three electric SUV finalists offered an interesting battle between a traditional luxury brand (Cadillac), an upstart lux-maker (Genesis) and a mainstream badge (Kia) that sees the electric market as a chance to take its brand upscale. All three entries cost above $40,000.<\/p>\n

\"Is<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Judged by a group of 50 independent journalists, the NACTOY is one of the industry\u2019s most prestigious prizes. The jurors evaluated vehicles all year long, then whittled this year\u2019s record field of 48 eligible vehicles to 26 semi-finalists. Those 26 \u2014 10 in the car category, three in truck, and 13 SUVs \u2013 then underwent extensive juror testing in Ann Arbor in October 2022.<\/p>\n

The nine finalists were selected and the winners were announced at M1 Concourse car club in Pontiac.<\/p>\n

The field was unusual in its lack of affordable mainstream badges. The popular, gas-powered Honda CR-V and Mazda CX-50 \u2014 both finalists in years past \u2014 were passed over this year, even though they are affordable volume sellers in America\u2019s biggest mainstream segment. A year ago, two of the three winners \u2014 the Honda Civic sedan and Ford Bronco SUV \u2014 stickered for under $35,000.<\/p>\n

By contrast, jurors this year \u2014 tasked with evaluating vehicles based on automotive innovation, design, safety, performance, technology, driver satisfaction, user experience and value \u2014 appeared to put an emphasis on innovation and design as EVs disrupt the marketplace with novel designs and electronic features.<\/p>\n

A juror poll at the October test predicted EVs will make up 10% of new vehicle sales by 2027, 25% of new buys come 2030, and 50% of new vehicles purchased by 2035.<\/p>\n

2023 NACTOY finalists<\/strong><\/p>\n

Car of the Year: Acura Integra, Genesis G80 EV, Nissan Z<\/p>\n

Winner:<\/strong>\u00a0Acura Integra<\/p>\n

Truck of the Year: Chevrolet Silverado ZR2, Ford F-150 Lightning, Lordstown Endurance<\/p>\n

Winner:<\/strong>\u00a0Ford F-150 Lightning<\/p>\n

Utility Vehicle of the Year: Cadillac Lyriq, Genesis GV60, Kia EV6<\/p>\n

Winner:<\/strong>\u00a0Kia EV6<\/p>\n

Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

And the gold medals go to . . . The Acura Integra, Ford F-150 Lightning and Kia EV6 took top honors in the 2023 North American Car, Truck and Utility Vehicle of the Year awards announced Wednesday morning.\u00a0The awards were dominated by electric vehicles this year as two-thirds of the finalists were battery-powered. For the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30363"}],"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=30363"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30363\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30365,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30363\/revisions\/30365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}