The North American Car, Truck, & Utility Vehicle Of The Year (NACTOY) awards have already announced their winners for 2022, but well before the year’s end, they’ve announced their semifinalists for next year’s competition to give the public ample time to vote. There are 26 entries across 3 categories, so let’s take a look.
The first category is for cars, and it has 10 contenders from 7 brands. In alphabetical order, there’s the Acura Integra, BMW i4 eDrive40, Genesis G80 EV, Genesis G90, Mercedes-Benz C Class, Mercedes-Benz EQE, Nissan Z, Subaru WRX, Toyota Crown, and Toyota GR Corolla.
Read More: Hyundai Ioniq 5 Named 2022 World Car Of The Year And World Electric Vehicle
Unsurprisingly, about a third of the list are EVs, but as for who we think will win, we could actually see it being one of the gas-powered Toyotas, as the former aims to popularize an often-overlooked segment (and will likely be a huge sales hit), and the latter is raising the bar for hot hatches and reestablishing Toyota as a manufacturer than can make some proper performance cars.
For the trucks, there’s only three entries: the Chevrolet Silverado ZR2, Ford F-150 Lightning, and the Lordstown Endurance. This time, two thirds of the list is electric, but we feel there will be a much clearer winner. For us, the F-150 Lightning especially stands out not only because of its role as the first mainstream electric pickup, but also for its relatively accessible price point (excluding any ridiculous dealership markups).
See Also: Peugeot 308 Voted As Women’s World Car of the Year For 2022
Finally there’s the Utility Vehicle section, in which 8 out of the 13 contenders are electric. These vehicles include the Audi Q4 e-tron, BMW iX xDrive50, Cadillac Lyriq, Genesis GV60, Honda CR-V, Honda HR-V, Kia EV6, Kia Sportage, Lexus RX, Mazda CX-50, Nissan Ariya, Rivian R1S, and Volvo C40 Recharge. Of the bunch, we think either the Lyriq or EV6 could come out on top because of how they’re essentially the turning points for their respective brands’ futures. Additionally, as the cheapest EV on the list, the EV6 is also a bit more accessible than the likes of some of its luxury counterparts, which only helps to increase its importance and influence in the industry.
But as much as we’d like to speculate, we also want to hear your opinion. Which vehicles do you think will win, or even just move on to the finalist round of the competition? Let us know in the comments.
2023 Semifinalists:
North American Car of the Year
Acura Integra
BMW i4 eDrive40
Genesis G80 EV
Genesis G90
Mercedes-Benz C Class
Mercedes-Benz EQE
Nissan Z
Subaru WRX
Toyota Crown
Toyota GR Corolla
North American Truck of the Year
Chevrolet Silverado ZR2
Ford F-150 Lightning
Lordstown Endurance
North American Utility Vehicle of the Year
Audi Q4 e-tron
BMW iX xDrive50
Cadillac Lyriq
Genesis GV60
Honda CR-V
Honda HR-V
Kia EV6
Kia Sportage
Lexus RX
Mazda CX-50
Nissan Ariya
Rivian R1S
Volvo C40 Recharge
