The Honda Civic hybrid won the 2025 North American Car of the Year award, while the Ford Ranger took the crown for the truck honours, and Volkswagen ID. Buzz won the utility award.
The honours, announced Friday morning during an Automotive Press Association event kicking off the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, are decided by a group of 50 journalists from the U.S. and Canada.
They evaluate factors such as innovation, design, performance, driver satisfaction and value, according to the North American Car, Truck and Utility Vehicle of the Year awards organization.
Friday marked the awards’ long-awaited return to the traditional January Detroit Auto Show after being held elsewhere for the past few years while the show experienced pandemic-related delays and was hosted during the fall.
Automakers hail the awards as a key gauge for how media perceive their new and refreshed vehicles, and buyers often look to them to make purchase decisions.
In addition to the winning Honda Civic hybrid, car finalists included the Kia K4 compact and Toyota Camry.
The truck finalists this year included the Toyota Tacoma midsize pickup alongside the full-size Ram 1500, while the remaining utility finalists were the Chevrolet Equinox electric vehicle and Hyundai Santa Fe crossovers.
This year’s finalists were less dominated by pure-EVs than in 2023 but the list presented a solid mix of gasoline-powered, hybrid and electric vehicles.