Following hot on the heels of its list of the 10Best cars for 2017, Car and Driver magazine has identified its top ten trucks and SUVs – covering a range of crossovers, sport-utes, pickups, and vans (mini or otherwise).
Honda is the only automaker to get two of its latest models on C/D’s latest list of more utilitarian modes of transport – and also had one on the preceding car list as well. The Japanese automaker is not alone in that latter regard, though, as BMW, Porsche, Mazda, and Ford also returned to take a second bow here as well.
Where the 10Best cars take an overall approach and don’t represent any specific categories, the truck roster covers specific categories – and here they are, C/D’s 10Best Trucks and SUVs for 2017:
Subcompact SUV: Kia Soul
Subcompact Luxury SUV: BMW X1
Compact SUV: Honda CR-V
Compact Luxury SUV: Porsche Macan
Mid-Size SUV: Mazda CX-9
Mid-Size Luxury SUV: Audi Q7
Large SUV: Mercedes-Benz GLS450
Mid-Size Pickup: Honda Ridgeline
Full-Size Pickup: Ford F-150 (including the Raptor)
Van: Chrysler Pacifica
The truck list arrives as the market for larger vehicles grows in the US market especially. C/D points out that while SUVs, crossovers, pickups, and vans accounted for 57 percent of new-vehicle sales in 2015, they rose even further to 60 percent in 2016.
No wonder the list has grown from the 5Best Trucks that were nominated between 2001 and 2008 to the 10Best list the publication of record names today.
Now in case you’re wondering where the Range Rovers, Cayennes, and Bentaygas of the market are in all of this, C/D’s rules are quite specific: only vehicles with list prices lower than $80,000 qualify as candidates. With a starting price under $70k, the Mercedes GLS makes the cut – and was actually less expensive, if you can believe it, than the fully loaded GMC Yukon XL that made it’s way to the judges’ hands.
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