The 2023 North American Car, Truck, and Utility of the Year (NACTOY) awards have run their course and the winners have been revealed. Two EVs – the Ford F-150 Lightning and the Kia EV – were named Best Truck and Best SUV, respectively, while the internal combustion-engined (ICE) Acura Integra won the award for Best Car.
Previously, the electric Ford F-150 won MotorTrend’s Truck Of The Year 2023 award, as well as Motor1.com’s 2022 Best EV and 2022 Best Truck. With 483 votes received from jurors, Ford’s EV truck easily beat the Chevrolet Silverado ZR2 and Lordstown Endurance in the final round of the truck category.
The F-150 Lightning saw a price increase in December 2022, the third since the vehicle debuted, and now has an MSRP of $56,000 for the base Pro trim, while the top-of-the-range Platinum starts at a little under $97,000. Even with the higher price though, Ford’s electric pickup was the best-selling zero-emission truck in America in December 2022.
Gallery: 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning Lariat: Review
In the Best Utility segment, the Kia EV6 impressed the journalists with its styling, impressive range, easy charging, and strong performance with the GT model, earning 258 votes and beating the Cadillac Lyriq and Genesis GV60 in the last round.
The Best Car award was won by the Acura Integra, which isn’t available as an EV, getting more votes than the Nissan Z and Genesis G80 EV, with jurors noting its styling and fun-to-drive character as the main arguments for its win.
Gallery: 2023 Kia EV6 GT: First Drive
The North American Car, Truck, and Utility of the Year jury gathers 50 automotive journalists from the United States and Canada, who start with a long list of new or substantially updated cars. The contestants are put to the test and the list gets shorter and shorter until just three finalists remain in each category.
This year’s NACTOY was the first-ever edition where there was an electric vehicle in all three categories, with a total of six EVs competing for the awards, which is also a new record for the award.
Last year, all of the categories were won by ICE vehicles, with the Honda Civic getting the Best Car award, the Ford Maverick winning Best Truck, and the Ford Bronco scoring Best Utility.
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