Twenty-five vehicles in three categories have advanced to the next round of the 2025 North American Car, Truck and Utility Vehicle of the Year awards.
The vehicles were selected based on criteria including innovation, design, safety, performance, technology, user experience, driver satisfaction and value, as determined by a 50-person panel of automotive journalists. There are now 10 cars, 10 SUVs and five trucks in the running for the annual awards.
“This list seems to have a lot of variety, a lot of diversity,” Jeff Gilbert, automotive reporter for WWJ Radio in Detroit and volunteer president of NACTOY, told Automotive News.
Almost 50% of the 25 semifinalists are electric vehicles, although they only represent about 8% of the market share.
“We’ve been trending toward electric vehicles for a number of years,” Gilbert said, “and there are a few on the list, but I don’t think they’re dominating it like they might have in some other years.”
Makes and models run the gamut — from luxury vehicles like the Cadillac Celestiq to mainstream vehicles like the Toyota Camry and Honda Civic.
Semifinalists in the car category include the Kia K4 and two BMW models, the 3 Series and M5, creating some competition within the brand. The reborn Toyota Land Cruiser, as well as the Hyundai Santa Fe and Lincoln Nautilus are among the contenders in the utility vehicle segment.
In the truck category, there’s competition between the combustion-engine-powered Toyota Tacoma, Ram 1500 and Ford Ranger and the electric GMC Sierra and Rivian R1T. Despite seeing an update this year, the Ford F-150 didn’t make the cut.
“While the F-150 is one of the best-selling vehicles in America and there are a lot of updates, it’s not a total redesign of the vehicle like you saw with the Ranger or the Tacoma,” Gilbert said. Ford, at least, doesn’t have to fight with the brand’s competition, he added.
Semifinalists were revealed on September 13 at the newly renovated Michigan Central Station in Detroit. Three finalists for the awards in each category, established in 1994, will be announced in Los Angeles on November 21, with the winners revealed at the Detroit Auto Show on January 10, 2025.