2022 North American Car of the Year award goes to…

KUALA LUMPUR: The 11th generation Honda Civic has received one of its highest honour, the 2022 North American Car of the Year (NACOTY) title. This award covers the entire United States and Canadian automotive market and the organisation gives out similar recognition annually to utility vehicles and trucks.

Before moving on to the details, we’d like to shed some light on the award and the voting process. Founded in 1994, these awards are regarded as the longest-running new-vehicle awards, not associated with a publication house. A panel of 50 automotive journalists from the US and Canada undergo three rounds of independently verified voting, after conducting hundreds of hours of research, evaluation, and test drives.

At the initial stage, 36 vehicles made it to the list of eligible candidates, the number came down to 23 after the first round of voting. The number then came down to nine, three vehicles in each category (cars, utility vehicles, and trucks).

We’ll be discussing each award category in detail one by one, starting with the 2022 North America Car of the Year -

Out of the three finalists, VW Golf Mk8, Honda Civic, and Lucid Air, the 11th-gen Civic grabbed the title. This made in the US and Canada Honda impressed the judges with its driving dynamics and ‘fun to drive’ sensation. The other two cars also impressed the judges, for instance, the VW Golf caught attention for its fun-driving performance, the Lucid Air was described by many journalists as a game-changing luxury EV.

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NACOTY scoreboard -

Honda Civic	241 points
Lucid Air	170 points
Volkswagen Golf	89 points

Out of the three cars mentioned above, the 11th gen Civic and VW Golf GTI models have already been previewed in Malaysia with the fore scheduled for a soon launch.

Coming to the 2022 North America Utility Vehicle of the Year award, the three finalists that made it to the list were - Ford Bronco, Genesis GV70, and fully-electric Hyundai Ioniq 5. The winner was none other than the recently revised Bronco that won the title with 234 points. The Hyundai contender came in second with 153 points, leaving the GV70 at third spot with 113 points.

Meanwhile, the 2022 North America Truck of the Year finalists included Hyundai Santa Cruz, Ford Maverick, and fully-electric Rivian R1T. The title however went to Ford Maverick that scored 277 points. Overall, the journalists were impressed by the broad capabilities these crossover-based trucks offer in the segment.

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