Just a couple of months since it launched, the 2022 Ford Maverick is off to a strong start, earning positive reviews, outselling its main rival – the Hyundai Santa Cruz – in its first full month on sale, and scoring the Green Truck of the Year award from Green Car Journal just yesterday. Back in September, the Maverick was also nominated for North American Truck of the Year, alongside five other semifinalists – the GMC Hummer EV, Hyundai Santa Cruz, Nissan Frontier, Rivian R1T, and Toyota Tundra. Now, that field has been narrowed down to three finalists, and the 2022 Ford Maverick is one of them.
The Maverick is competing against the Santa Cruz and R1T for North American Truck of the Year as the three finalists were announced at the 2021 LA Auto Show. The trucks are joined by six other finalists for North American Car of the Year and North American Utility Vehicle of the Year, which were narrowed down from an initial field of 23 semifinalists.
“These nine vehicles represent an unusually excellent and diverse group of finalists,” said NACTOY president Gary Witzenburg. “From new OEMs to vehicles that have created fresh segments in their categories, these vehicles showcase the automotive industry’s current diversification. This year’s finalists also illustrate how many more electric vehicles are becoming available to customers across multiple vehicle types.” “The diverse opinions of our jurors bring together a combination of expertise and individual testing regimens to select these nine outstanding finalists,” said NACTOY Vice President Jack R. Nerad. “This results in a comprehensive and thoughtful selection process unique to NACTOY.”
A total of 50 automotive journalists from magazines, newspapers, websites, television and radio in the U.S. and Canada vote three times to determine the NACTOY winners, each of whom test each vehicle and judge it based on innovation, design, safety, performance, technology, driver satisfaction, and value. The third and final votes, which will determine the winners in each category, will take place December 30th – January 5th, 2022, and the 2022 NACTOY Car, Truck, and Utility of the Year winners will be announced in early January.
