• Here are our Auto123 Top Picks for 2024, in the categories of pickup trucks and minivans.
Each year, Auto123 selects its favourite vehicles in a host of distinct categories. As the categories evolve, so does the way we honour the industry's best models.
This year, we're adopting a new and improved formula. Rather than picking just one winner, we’re presenting you with what the auto journalists making up our jury have identified as the top three vehicles in each segment.
These segments lumped together are a study in contrasts. Pickups continue to make up a very healthy percentage of the market, while minivans eke out an existence on its edges.
The best compact and midsize pickup trucks
The midsize pickup segment has enjoyed a major resurgence in popularity over the last ten years. Today, it has become one of the most important for manufacturers, and certainly one of the most lucrative too. This is of major importance at a time when automakers are investing astronomical sums in development of electric vehicles and technologies.
Joining the party more recently are compact pickups, namely the Ford Maverick and Hyundai Santa Cruz. Buyers with a pickup in mind have more choice than ever.
So how to pinpoint three Top Picks from the lot? It was a challenge. But it was a challenge our jury members emerged from relatively unscathed. Our choices are distinct, with different mandates and different strengths.
The Toyota Tacoma is a real live pickup truck, built on a ladder chassis. Renewed for 2024, it really stands out against its rivals of the same ilk. The number of variations in the offering is equally rich, with the addition of a new variant called Trailhunter, designed to push the limits of off-road driving. And a hybrid powertrain is part of the mix as well.
Our second Top Pick is also a hybrid. The difference is that Ford's Maverick is a vehicle with a unibody structure, and it’s also smaller than the Toyota. The Maverick pickup is reminiscent of the old midsize offerings from the 80s and 90s, designed primarily to be practical and able to squeeze in places bigger trucks can’t.
See: 2024 Ford Maverick: It Can Be Ordered From July
See: 2023 Ford Maverick Hybrid Lariat Review: The Cool Factor
Specifications sheet of the 2024 Ford Maverick XL
Our third choice in this blended category is the Honda Ridgeline, also built on a monobody structure, but of intermediate size. With a towing capacity of 5000 lb, and offering the ride smoothness of its cousin the Honda Pilot, the Ridgeline offers a compromise that has kept it alive in the Japanese automaker’s lineup for almost 20 years now.
The best full-size pickups
In the full-size pickup category, there are no real surprises. The same players have been around and at the front of the pack for decades.
In 2024, to be precise, there are in five combatants in this popular, oh-so-lucrative segment: the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra duo from General Motors, plus the Toyota Tundra, Ram 1500 and Ford F-150.
Not surprisingly, the American Big Three dominate, which isn’t to say that Toyota's pickup is chopped liver.
The Ford F-150, GMC Sierra and Ram 1500 are our Top Picks for full-size pickups, and for similar reasons: all excel in terms of towing capacity, the number of variants available, the power of the powertrains, the luxury offered at the top of the range. Pickups ain’t what they used to be.
See: 2024 Ford F-150: Pricing Starts at Just Under $50,000 in Canada
See: 2024 Ford F-150 Unveiled: Evolution in Continuity
See: 2025 Ram 1500 First Drive: More Efficiency, Less Testosterone
See: Ram 1500 Classic Returns in 2024
See: 2025 Ram 1500: Goodbye V8, Hello Inline-6
Note that the Ram 1500 is the model benefiting from the biggest changes, although those are coming in for the 2025 model-year. The pickup will be gaining new variants and a new powertrain, with V8 engines becoming a thing of the past.
The best minivans
A forgotten breed among the species currently roaming the automotive landscape, minivans continue to hang in, even if their numbers are drastically reduced. Those that remain, however, are uniformly strong and continue to earn loyal support from those consumers who still recognize that these are the most practical vehicles for families.
Of the five models still on the market, we settled on three that most stand out for their intrinsic qualities, the most important of which include comfort and interior layout.
The Honda Odyssey has long been identified as the best of the bunch. It will get an argument, however, from the Toyota Sienna, which is only offered in hybrid configuration these days, giving it the best average fuel consumption.
Specifications sheet of the 2024 Honda Odyssey Touring
Specifications sheet of the 2024 Toyota Sienna XSE
Our third Top Pick, the much newer Kia Carnival, replaced the Sedona in the Korean automaker’s lineup in 2022. Here, Kia has outdone itself, offering the ultimate in minivan practicality in a richly luxurious environment.
A tiny segment with very strong products makes for an interesting challenge for potential buyers. A test drive of all three is highly recommended before making a choice.
See: Kia Shows 2025 Carnival’s Redesigned Interior
See: Good and Not-So-Good News for 2024 Kia Carnival
Specifications sheet of the 2024 Kia Carnival EX
