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A brash newcomer joined two longtime favorites as Kia, Ford and Toyota won the 2024 North American, Car, Truck and Utility of the year awards Thursday.
The winners:
Car: Toyota Prius/Prius Prime
Truck: Ford F-series Super Duty pickups
SUV: Kia EV9
The winners cover the gamut of modern powertrain technology: hybrid (Prius), internal combustion (Super Duty) and electric vehicle (EV9).
“Our winners reflect the fact that a modern vehicle must be a combination of style, utility and technology,” said NACTOY President Jeff Gilbert.
Months of tests and evaluations
The awards have been presented annually since 1994 by 50 automotive journalists from the United States and Canada. I’m one of the jurors. The winners reflected two of my choices — EV9 and Super Duty — which were also the Free Press SUV and Truck of the Year. The Honda Accord was my pick for top car.
The judging process begins each January, as jurors evaluate every new or substantially revised vehicle scheduled to go on sale in that calendar year. The process includes meetings with engineers, designers and executives, test drives and tech demos. By fall, we’ve narrowed the field from those dozens of vehicles to 30 or so semifinalists, which we gather for back-to-back drives and further tests. Another vote reduces the field to three finalists for each award. They’re announced in November. Jurors frequently drive those vehicles again before choosing the winners.
This year’s finalists:
North American Car of the Year finalists
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Honda Accord
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Hyundai Ioniq 6
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Toyota Prius/Prius Prime plug-in hybrid
North American Truck of the Year finalists
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Ford Super Duty
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Chevrolet Colorado
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Chevrolet Silverado EV
North American Utility of the Year finalists
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Hyundai Kona
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Kia EV9
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Genesis GV70 electrified
More: I love Volvo's EX30 EV. Here's why I’m glad they pulled it from SUV of the Year ballot.
What makes the winners great
Ford’s Super Duty pickups have been a mainstay of American work and life since 1998. Engineered to tow and haul more than the F-150, they’ve evolved into everything from utility trucks to lavish luxury pickups towing million-dollar trailers.
The bestselling hybrid in history, the Toyota Prius debuted in Japan in 1997 and the U.S. in 2000. It nearly single-handedly made fuel-efficiency a sign of technical superiority and spurred the auto industry’s move to electric power, first to augment internal combustion engines in hybrids.
Arriving in dealerships now, the Kia EV9 is the first all-electric vehicle designed to challenge the three-row SUVs that have become the vehicle of choice for many American families. Its features and looks drew praise for delivering luxury-brand excellence at mainstream prices, although EV prices remain generally higher than their ICE counterparts.