Acura Integra, Kia EV6, Ford F-150 Lightning Win 2023 NACTOY Awards

The 2023 North American Car, Truck and Utility Vehicle of the Year (NACTOY) award winners were announced today during a joint press conference with the Detroit Area Dealers Association (DADA) and Automotive Press Association.

Once again, the jury of 50 professional automotive journalists from the United States and Canada included The Car Guide’s Marc Lachapelle, Antoine Joubert and Gabriel Gélinas. The voting process began with 47 eligible vehicles, which jurors later narrowed in three rounds of independently verified voting to 26 semifinalists, 9 finalists and now the winners.

“This year showed the unprecedented variety of vehicles on sale today, including reborn models of iconic nameplates, numerous electric vehicles, thrilling high-performance or off-road vehicles, impressive luxury products and even all-new manufacturers,” said NACTOY President Gary Witzenburg.

2023 North American Car of the Year

Photo: Acura

Taking the torch from the Honda Civic which it shares many components with, the 2023 Acura Integra is a beautiful replacement for the ILX. As Witzenburg noted, it looks good, drives well and is among the very few in its (or any) segment offering a slick-shifting manual transmission.

With 174 points, the Integra edged out the Genesis Electrified G80 and Nissan Z.

2023 North American Utility Vehicle of the Year

Photo: Kia

The Hyundai IONIQ 5 barely missed out on this award last year, but the Kia EV6 does South Korea proud by getting the nod from the jury for 2023. This electric crossover features sleek styling and its new 576-horsepower GT variant is Kia’s fastest and most powerful production model ever.

Earning 258 points thanks to its tremendous range in a package that won’t break the bank, the EV6 rose above two other electric finalists, namely the Genesis GV60 and Cadillac Lyriq.

2023 North American Truck of the Year

Photo: Ford

Ford wins the award here for the third year in a row, following the F-150 in 2021 and the Maverick in 2022. The F-150 Lightning delivers a remarkable combination of technology, versatility and capability. It’s really the best of all worlds, with a wide range of applications for both traditional and new-to-the-segment truck customers.

The F-150 Lightning’s 483 points easily beat another electric pickup, the Lordstown Endurance, as well as the rugged Chevrolet Silverado ZR2.

The Car Guide is on the same page as the NACTOY jury, since we named it our 2023 New Truck of the Year. Meet our other award winners if you haven’t already.

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