The Dodge Charger has been named the 2026 North American Car of the Year, while the Ford Maverick Lobo took top honours in the truck category and the Hyundai Palisade won the utility award.
The winners were announced on Wednesday during an Automotive Press Association event at the start of the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
The awards, decided by a panel of journalists from the US and Canada, evaluate factors such as innovation, design, performance and driver satisfaction. They are considered a key indicator of how the media perceive new and redesigned vehicles, and often influence buyers' purchasing decisions.
Alongside the winning Dodge Charger midsize car, finalists in the car category included the Honda Prelude hybrid sports coupe and the Nissan Sentra compact car. In the truck segment, the Ram 1500 Hemi and Ram 2500 were finalists, while the utility category also featured the Lucid Gravity luxury electric vehicle and the Nissan Leaf small electric crossover SUV.
This year's finalists represented a mix of internal combustion engine, hybrid and electric vehicles.
