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Vehicles of the Year 2025: NACTOY Awards Announced in Detroit

The Volkswagen ID. Buzz | Photo: Volkswagen
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Daniel Rufiange
NACTOY’s jury panel announced its choices for Car, Utility Vehicle and Truck of the Year winners for 2025.

The Detroit Auto Show is back in January this year. To mark the occasion, a tradition is revived: the winners of the NACTOY (North American Car and Truck of the Year) awards are unveiled there.

Back in November, recall, NACTOY announced its finalists at the Los Angeles Auto Show. Now the final results are in and the three winners were announced in each of the major categories considered by the jurors - Car, Truck and Utility Vehicle of the Year.

The Ford Ranger
The Ford Ranger | Photo: Ford

NACTOY 2025 Truck of the Year

In the pickup category, the Ford Ranger came out on top. The midsize truck benefited from a major refresh during the year, bringing it right back into contention in its category. The Ranger's victory will certainly be celebrated with great pomp and ceremony at Ford's offices, as this is the fifth year in a row that one of the brand's trucks has won over the NACTOY jury. The model succeeds the Super Duty, Maverick, F-150 and F-150 Lightning with this award.

The Ford Ranger beat out the Ram 1500 and Toyota Tacoma for the title.

La Volkswagen ID. Buzz
La Volkswagen ID. Buzz | Photo: D.Rufiange

NACTOY 2025 Utility Vehicle of the Year

The new Volkswagen ID.Buzz won out over some pretty tough competition.  VW's electric minivan came out ahead of the Chevrolet Equinox EV and the Hyundai Santa Fe, two other models that greatly impressed.

This was Volkswagen's first victory in this category.

The Honda Civic Hybrid
The Honda Civic Hybrid | Photo: Honda

NACTOY 2025 Car of the Year

For 2025, the Honda Civic hybrid beat out the Kia K4 and Toyota Camry, two models that were completely redesigned in 2024 for the 2025 model-year. For Honda, it's a fifth win in this category, and the fourth for the Civic (the Accord midsize sedan claimed the other victory).

This year marks the 31st anniversary of NACTOY's North American Car, Truck and Utility Vehicle of the Year awards.

The winners announced on Friday, were selected by 50 automotive journalists from North American media in a three-stage voting process.

Daniel Rufiange
Daniel Rufiange
Automotive expert
  • Over 17 years' experience as an automotive journalist
  • More than 75 test drives in the past year
  • Participation in over 250 new vehicle launches in the presence of the brand's technical specialists