North American Car, Truck and Utility of the Year Named
CARS.COM — The North American Car and Truck and Utility of the Year panel, a group of 57 independent automotive journalists, awarded the Chevrolet Bolt, Chrysler Pacifica and Honda Ridgeline its top honors for 2017 at the 2017 North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
More 2017 Detroit Auto Show Coverage
If you’re wondering how NACTOY’s top award went from two cars to three, the panel added a third category — Utility vehicle of the year, distinct from the extant Car and Truck honors — starting this year. (Minivans and SUVs qualify for the utility award; pickup trucks and commercial vans qualify for the truck award.) The new Pacifica minivan, which handily beat its rivals in a recent Cars.com competition, took home the award. Chevrolet’s new Bolt electric hatchback, meanwhile, took NACTOY’s top car award, while the redesigned Honda Ridgeline pickup won the top accolade for trucks.
NACTOY announced the awards Monday morning ahead of the Detroit auto show. The winners emerged from nine finalists: the Bolt, Genesis G90 and Volvo S90 for cars; the Ridgeline, Ford F-Series Super Duty and Nissan Titan for trucks; and the Pacifica, Jaguar F-Pace and Mazda CX-9 for utility vehicles.
From the dozens of new or substantially redesigned cars each year, jurors evaluate and vote on finalists every November and winners every December. Cars.com has two jurors on NACTOY’s panel: Executive Editor Joe Wiesenfelder and Senior Consumer Affairs Editor Kelsey Mays.
NACTOY’s awards are distinct from Cars.com’s own Best Of car and truck awards, which we’ll unveil later this week.
