The 2026 North American Car, Truck and Utility Vehicle of the Year (NACTOY) awards, kicking off the Detroit Auto Show’s media day revealed the results of an intensive, year-long jury process designed to identify the best-in-class vehicles for the upcoming model year.
The winners are:
• North American Car of the Year: Dodge Charger
• North American Truck of the Year: Ford Maverick Lobo
• North American Utility Vehicle of the Year™: Hyundai Palisade
NACTOY jurors have spent the last year assiduously test driving, researching and evaluating vehicles on criteria including automotive innovation, design, safety, performance, technology, driver satisfaction, user experience and value. Their unique points of view inform the voting process, resulting in a well-rounded class of vehicles built for a variety of lifestyle needs. The organization announced its “Best of 2026” semifinalists in September at CAR MBS in the conference’s first year at Michigan Central Station and winnowed the list down further to 9 exceptional finalists that were unveiled at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November.
“These winners represent the best in the auto industry,” said Jeff Gilbert, president of NACTOY and automotive reporter at WWJ Radio. “This award has great value because of the diverse backgrounds of our jurors, and on behalf of those jurors, I offer deep congratulations to all of our winners for 2026.”
Founded in 1994, the NACTOY awards are the longest-running new-vehicle awards not associated with a single publication. Vehicles are judged by 50 professional automotive journalists from a wide variety of print, online, radio and television media outlets in the United States and Canada.
