Ford’s long-running dominance of the North American Truck of the Year awards has hit a major setback. After winning the award six consecutive times, Ford has failed to make the Best of 2027 list and will not compete among the finalists this year.
Ford Is Missing From the 2027 NACTOY List
The 2027 North American Car, Truck, and Utility Vehicle of the Year awards recognize the best new or substantially changed vehicles across three categories. Ford’s pickups have dominated the truck award in recent years, with the F-150, Ranger, Maverick, Super Duty and Lightning all taking the top prize.
For the first time since 2019, however, Ford does not even appear among the honorable mentions. NACTOY has announced its 25 Best of 2027 models, and Ford is absent from both the truck category and the entire list.
NACTOY does not specify why a particular model fails to make the list. However, the requirements call for vehicles to be “new or substantially changed,” a standard that could have affected Ford’s entries.
Ford has updated the F-150 for 2027, but the changes are relatively small. They include new grilles, new wheel designs and improvements to BlueCruise. No significant changes have been announced for Ford’s other trucks.
Four Trucks Advance for 2027
Four trucks have made the Best of 2027 list and will compete for the North American Truck of the Year award.
The Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500 are both included after receiving all-new versions this year. The Ram 1500 TRX SRT also advanced, bringing back the 6.2-liter supercharged TRX with even more power than before.
The fourth truck is the Slate, an ultra-basic $25,000 electric pickup from a brand-new company. Deliveries of the Slate have not started yet, but the company has apparently placed enough trucks in the hands of jurors for evaluation.
The Slate is expected to be in customers’ hands by the time the awards are presented in early January, allowing it to qualify.
Five Cars and 16 SUVs Make the List
Five vehicles are competing for the 2027 North American Car of the Year award: the Audi A6, Hyundai Ioniq 6 N, Kia K4 hatchback, Lexus ES and Mercedes-Benz CLA 220 hybrid.
The SUV category features 16 competitors, including three Jeep models and three Kia models, along with a mix of gas-powered and electric vehicles.
The SUV contenders are the Audi Q9, BMW iX3, Kia EV3, Seltos, Telluride, Chevrolet Bolt, Mazda CX-5, Genesis GV60 Magma, Nissan Rogue Hybrid e-Power, Jeep Cherokee, Recon, Grand Wagoneer REEV, Rivian R2, Toyota Highlander, Volkswagen Atlas and Volvo EX60.
What Comes Next for the NACTOY Awards
The next stage of the NACTOY awards takes place in late October, when jurors will gather at one event to drive all of the vehicles on the Best of 2027 list before casting their ballots.
The three finalists in each category will be announced November 19 in Los Angeles. The winners will then be announced at the Detroit Show on January 14.
