- The finalists for the 2025 North American Car, Truck and Utility Vehicle of the Year Awards have been announced at the Los Angeles Auto Show.
- American brands have largely been shut out as the only contenders are the Chevrolet Equinox EV, Ford Ranger, and Ram 1500.
- While the awards have been EV-focused as of late, most electric vehicles didn’t advance to the final round of voting this year.
The North American Car, Truck and Utility Vehicle of the Year Awards have revealed the finalists for 2025. There are a few themes this year, but the big winner appears to be value.
Starting with the North American Car of the Year, the finalists are the Honda Civic Hybrid, Kia K4, and Toyota Camry. These are all reasonably priced sedans and the K4 starts at a mere $21,990. The Civic Hybrid begins at $28,750 while the larger Camry comes in at $28,400 and is also a hybrid.
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All three stand in sharp contrast to the cars that didn’t make the cut. They included the ultra-luxury Cadillac Celestiq, the performance-focused Mercedes-AMG E-Class, and Porsche Panamera. The BMW 3-Series, BMW M5, Dodge Charger Daytona, and Fiat 500e were also tossed aside.
The finalists for 2025 North American Truck of the Year aren’t much of a surprise as they include the redesigned Ford Ranger and Toyota Tacoma as well as the facelifted Ram 1500. Interestingly, the GMC Sierra EV and Rivian R1T were eliminated, meaning an electric vehicle isn’t going to win in this category either.
In fact, only two EVs are finalists this time around. They’re the Chevrolet Equinox EV and Volkswagen ID. Buzz, which will be competing for the title of North American Utility Vehicle of the Year. They’ll have to battle the Hyundai Santa Fe as the Honda Prologue, Hyundai Ioniq 5 N, Lincoln Nautilus, and Toyota Land Cruiser didn’t advance to the final round.
The elimination of so many EVs is interesting as they’ve been a fixture on the podium for the past few years. Recent winners have included the Kia EV6, Kia EV9, Ford F-150 Lightning, and Ford Mustang Mach-E.
The victors will be announced on January 10 at the Detroit Auto Show but, in the meantime, feel free to tell us who should win in the comments below.