2021 North American Car of the Year Finalists

The nine finalists for the North American Car of the Year (NACTOY) awards for 2021 have been announced. Here are this year’s finalists listed in alphabetical order within each category:

Car of the Year:

Genesis G80 

 

Hyundai Elantra

 

Nissan Sentra

Truck of the Year:

Ford F-150

 

Jeep Gladiator Mojave

 

Ram 1500 TRX

Utility Vehicle of the Year:

Ford Mustang Mach E

 

Genesis GV80 

 

Land Rover Defender

The final round of voting takes place in early January 2021, and the winners will be revealed on January 11.

“In this very challenging year, these nine vehicles emerged as our Finalists out of an unusually strong field of 27 Semifinalists,” said NACTOY president Gary Witzenburg. “Each one of them – especially the 15 in the ultra-competitive utility vehicle category – is excellent in nearly every way. Not to mention the automakers’ unusually difficult challenge of getting our 50 jurors from all over North America into their candidate vehicles for testing and evaluation prior to our later-than-usual voting deadline.”

“Just as individual car buyers have their own purchase criteria, each of our 50 expert jurors has his or her own individual process for evaluating candidate vehicles,” said NACTOY Vice President Jack R. Nerad, “which results in a robust and comprehensive competition that looks at the contenders from every possible angle. We are proud of the vast experience and diversity of our panel of jurors.”

Two of those 50 jurors, Lesley Wimbush and yours truly, are Wheels regulars.