Nine vehicles across three categories and eight brands were nominated for the 2023 North American Car, Truck and Utility Vehicle of the Year Awards on Thursday at the Los Angeles Auto Show.
They include six electric vehicles — with each category containing at least one, and the utility segment being made up entirely of EVs.
The car finalists are a varied bunch, with the compact luxury Acura Integra, the midsize luxury Genesis Electrified G80 and the compact sporty Nissan Z making the cut.
The truck category will be a battle among two legacy automakers in Chevrolet and Ford and an electric vehicle startup in Lordstown Motors. The off-road Chevrolet Silverado ZR2, all-electric Ford F-150 Lightning or the unreleased Lordstown Endurance will take home the award.
All of the finalists for the utility category are all-electric, a change that is likely to stay. The Cadillac Lyriq, Genesis GV60 and Kia EV6 will be competing.
To be eligible, a vehicle must be new or substantially changed.
The finalists were selected from a list of 26 vehicles announced in September.
Historically, the winners were announced during the North American International Auto Show in Detroit during its former January dates. Since the Detroit show took place in September this year, the winners will be announced at a separate multimedia event Jan. 11.
The 2022 winners were the Honda Civic, Ford Maverick and Ford Bronco.
The 50 jurors are automotive journalists from the U.S. and Canada, including Richard Truett, an engineering reporter for Automotive News.
The awards were founded in 1994.
