The 2022 North American Car, Truck & Utility Vehicle of the Year Winners Announced in Detroit, Ford Wins Big

The North American Car, Truck and Utility Vehicle of the Year (NACTOY) award winners were announced today in Detroit. This year's finalists in the car category included the Honda Civic, Lucid Air Sedan and Volkswagen Golf  Golf Mk VIII (Golf R/Golf GTI).

The winners were announced at an event in Detroit hosted by the Automotive Press Association (APA) on Tuesday.

For newcomer Lucid, being named as a finalist brings with it some additional bragging rights, as the company's Lucid Air Sedan was already named as MotorTrend's North American Car of the Year in November. 

However, the long-running Honda Civic sedan edged out the Lucid Air and won the car category this year. The affordable and fuel efficient Civic has been one of the most popular vehicles in the U.S. for the past 30 years.

The finalists of Truck of the Year include the new Rivian R1T, Hyundai Santa Cruz and Ford Maverick Hybrid pickup. The winner was Ford's Maverick, which has become one of the most popular new vehicles in 2021 following the launch of the new Bronco. 

Ford is aiming to lure in buyers with its more fuel efficient and practical Maverick pickup truck, which is well suited for everyday driving, weekend projects and adventures.

In the utility vehicle catergory, Ford's resurrected Bronco SUV was also named as a NACTOY finalist along with the Genesis GV70 and new Hyundai IONIQ 5 electric SUV. 

NACTOY's awards, which were founded in 1994, are determined through a series of voting by a pool of 50 automotive journalists representing a wide group of automotive magazines, newspapers, websites, and television and radio stations in the U.S. and Canada. 

The finalists are judged each year on innovation, design, safety, handling, driver satisfaction and value for the dollar. 

The votes were tallied and audited by Deloitte. The selection of nine finalists is the second-to-last step in the year-long evaluation process for the three awards before the final jury vote and the announcement of the winners each year.

"These nine vehicles represent an unusually excellent and diverse group of finalists," said NACTOY president Gary Witzenburg. "From new OEMs to vehicles that have created fresh segments in their categories, these vehicles showcase the automotive industry's current diversification. This year's finalists also illustrate how many more electric vehicles are becoming available to customers across multiple vehicle types."

The NACTOY awards are the longest-running new vehicle awards not associated with a single outlet, unlike Motor Trend's annual Car of the Year Award.

"The diverse opinions of our jurors bring together a combination of expertise and individual testing regimens to select these nine outstanding finalists," said NACTOY Vice President Jack R. Nerad. "This results in a comprehensive and thoughtful selection process unique to NACTOY."

For automaker Ford, having two new vehicles as finalists in the NACTOY awards could help it sell more Mavericks and Broncos. Both vehicles received high praise from customers last year.

The original Ford Maverick was a compact sedan originally produced from 1969 to 1977. It returned in the form of a pickup truck with a focus on fuel efficiency, practicality and everyday utility. The Maverick comes standard with a hybrid powertrain as Ford begins to electrify its model lineup. 

Ford's new Mach-E electric SUV was also recognized last year by Car and Driver with the "Electric Vehicle of the Year Award", beating out some top-rated EV competitors such as Tesla's Model Y Performance, Model 3 Performance and the Audi e-tron.