U.S.-based Ford, Netherlands-based Stellantis and Hyundai of South Korea took top honors with the 2026 North American Car of the Year awards, representing corporate wins for each of the three continents responsible for designing and engineering the world’s automobiles.
The awards, bestowed at the beginning of press days at the 2026 Detroit Auto Show, honor the Ford Maverick Lobo as truck of the year, the Dodge Charger as car of the year and the Hyundai Palisade as utility vehicle of the year.
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The jurors who picked the winners honored a hybrid sedan, an electric minivan, and a midsize pickup truck.
Close Voting For COTY
A jury of 50 North American automotive journalists, following extensive test drives, chose the winners after whittling a pool of nominees to three in each category. Only vehicles that are all-new, completely redesigned or recently refreshed are eligible in the competition that began in 1994.
The only category in which voting by the jurors was somewhat close was for car of the year, which saw the Honda Prelude and Nissan Sentra earning 152 and 143 points, respectively. But the clear winner was the Dodge Charger, which perhaps benefited from its offering as a muscle car with both internal-combustion and all-electric powertrains, earning 195 points from the jury.
Palisade Prevails As Top Ute
In voting for utility of the year, the Nissan Leaf and Lucid Gravity battery-electric vehicles earned 135 and 85 points, respectively, but came up well behind the second-generation Hyundai Palisade‘s 270 points. This was Hyundai’s fifth NACTOY win, following the Kona (2019) and first-generation Genesis (2009), as well as the Elantra, which won in 2012 and 2021.
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Maverick Lobo Makes It 6 In A Row
But the top vote getter in the entire 2026 competition was the street-wise Ford Maverick Lobo, which earned 277 points, topping the Ram 1500 Hemi and Ram 2500 pickups, which drew 114 and 99 points, respectively.
Ford is the only automaker to win six NACTOY trophies in a row in the same category, following (in order) the F-150, Maverick, F-150 Lightning, Super Duty and Ranger pickups, before this year’s Maverick Lobo.
Fodder For Product Marketing
In addition to boosting morale for three celebratory product-development teams, the NACTOY awards serve as perfect marketing fodder for automakers to advertise the winners and bring potential shoppers to showrooms.
source: NACTOY