The North American Car and Truck of the Year jury announced the semifinalists for the 2022 NACTOY award at the truncated Detroit Auto Show Tuesday. The mix includes several electric and hybrid vehicles, plus a couple of enthusiast models to keep things more interesting.
Among the standout finalists in the “Car” category are the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing, Volkswagen GTI and Golf R, and the Genesis G70. The Lucid Air and Mercedes-Benz EQS are the only pure EVs in the traditional category. In fact, thanks to the S-Class, the category has just as many large, traditional ICE models as it has electrics. Here are all of the category semifinalists:
In trucks, things trend a bit more unconventional. The all-electric Rivian R1T and Hummer EV are the obvious standouts here (the Ford F-150 Lightning didn’t enter production soon enough to make the jury’s cut-off) and the electrified Toyota Tundra and Ford Maverick both help buoy the category’s green credentials. The unibody Maverick and Santa Cruz help keep it a bit weird. Here’s the full list:
- Ford Maverick
- GMC HUMMER EV
- Hyundai Santa Cruz
- Nissan Frontier
- Rivian R1T
- Toyota Tundra
And now, for the super-secret bonus round: “Utilities.” This category leans a bit more conventional for 2022, with most of the options coming from the traditional family hauler space. The biggest standout here is probably the Kia Carnival, standing alone as the only minivan (are we allowed to call it that publicly?). We see a few electric and hybrid models here (Tucson, Grand Cherokee and of course, VW ID.4), but nothing too outlandish:
- Ford Bronco
- Genesis GV70
- Hyundai IONIQ 5
- Hyundai Tucson (HEV/ICE/PHEV)
- Jeep Grand Cherokee (ICE, PHEV, L)
- Jeep Wagoneer/Grand Wagoneer
- Kia Carnival
- Nissan Pathfinder
- VW ID.4
The 2022 NACTOY finalists will be announced at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November (provided it isn’t canceled) and winners will be announced in January, during an event in Detroit.
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