The award winners of the 2022 North American Car, Truck and Utility Vehicle of the Year (NACTOY) were announced on January 11 at a joint news conference in Detroit, where the state’s big auto show is set to take place in September.
The winners are: the Honda Civic, for the North American Car of the Year; the Ford Maverick, for the North American Truck of the Year; and the Ford Bronco, for the North American Utility Vehicle of the Year.
“2021 has been a highly significant year in automotive history,” said NACTOY President Gary Witzenburg. “We have seen groundbreaking and appealing new electric vehicles from almost every brand along with the emergence of new vehicle segments and impressive redesigns of familiar models.”
At the same time, he said several new start-up manufacturers are demonstrating that they are capable of competing with established OEMs. “Today’s winners represent our collective opinion of the best of what’s available to customers right now, and we sincerely congratulate the automotive industry on a very impressive year,” said Witzenburg.
Fifty professional automotive journalists hailing from print, online, radio and television media outlets in both the United States and Canada act as jurors and select the award-winners. The 2022 awards included 36 eligible vehicles, with the first round narrowing the list down to 23 semifinalists. The second round cut it down to nine vehicles—three in each category.
Jurors voted for the winners based on segment leadership, innovation, design, safety, handling, driver satisfaction, and value for the dollar. The votes were tallied by Deloitte LLP.
