Bronco

Make
Ford
Segment
SUV

Late last year the North American Car, Truck and Utility Vehicle of the Year (NACTOY) jurors announced their three finalists in the car, truck, and SUV categories for 2022. The list of 23 semifinalists was whittled down to nine finalists before the winners were announced today. Though each category had at least one electric vehicle, the 50 automotive journalist jurors selected three winners with internal combustion engines.

The North American Car of the Year is the 2022 Honda Civic, the North American Truck of the Year is the 2022 Ford Maverick, and the North American Utility Vehicle of the Year is the 2022 Ford Bronco. These results closely mirror our own 2021 CarBuzz Awards, which featured the Maverick and Bronco (and the Civic as a finalist).

This is the second year in a row Ford has swept the truck and SUV categories; last year's winners were F-150 and Mustang Mach-E. The Civic succeeds the Hyundai Elantra as 2022's car winner, earning the honor for the third time in the award's history. The Civic beat out stiff competitors like the Lucid Air and Volkswagen Golf (GTI and R). The Maverick edged out the Rivian R1T and Hyundai Santa Cruz, while the Bronco defeated the Genesis GV70 and Hyundai Ioniq 5. Though none of the electric nominees made the final cut, we suspect fewer winners in 2023 will have a gasoline engine.

"2021 has been a highly significant year in automotive history," NACTOY President Gary Witzenburg said in a press release. "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. Meanwhile, a number of all-new start-up manufacturers are proving they are capable of competing with established automakers even with their first product offerings. 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."