0:00
/
0:00
S6E53 – NACTOY 2026 Car, Truck & SUV of the Year predictions
S6E53 – NACTOY 2026 Car, Truck & SUV of the Year predictions
0:00
0:00
0:00
0:00
About this episode
Predictions for the 2026 NACTOY Car, Truck, and SUV of the Year awards take center stage as hosts Carl Brower, Lauren Ficks, and Javier Mota discuss the nominees and their potential winners. The conversation highlights the shift from sedans to SUVs, with candidates like the Kia K4 hatchback and Hyundai Palisade gaining attention. The hosts debate the merits of various vehicles, including the Honda Prelude and Nissan Leaf, while also critiquing the industry's trend towards similar designs. Insights into the upcoming voting process and the impact of new jurors add depth to the discussion.
Topics:
nactoy predictions
2026 car of the year
suv trends
kia k4 hatchback
hyundai palisade
nissan leaf
honda prelude
truck of the year
design similarities
voting process
Cars:
Acura Integra
Audi A5
Audi Q5
Cadillac Escalade
Cadillac Optiq
Cadillac XLR
Chevrolet Volt
Delorean DMC-12
Dodge Charger
Ford Expedition
Ford F-150
Ford Lobo
Ford Maverick
Genesis GV70
Honda Civic
Honda Passport
Honda Prelude
Hyundai Genesis
Hyundai Palisade
Jeep Cherokee
Kia K4
Lucid Gravity
Mercedes-Benz CLA (C117)
Nissan Leaf
Nissan Sentra
Polestar 4
Rivian R1T
Toyota 4Runner
Toyota Camry
Toyota RAV4
In this episode, we dive into The Best of 2026 list from the North American Car, Truck and Utility Vehicle Awards (NACTOY) and before the 50 expert jurors even get behind the wheel to test every eligible model, we share our bold predictions for the winners: Kia K4 Hatchback, Ford Maverick Lobo, and Hyundai Palisade.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Technical
Too Afraid to Ask
Ermell (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Car
Dodge Charger
"...f the year award in North America, Audi A5, Dodge Charger, Hondra Perlut, Kia K4 hatchback, Mercedes-Benz C..."
Sign in to suggest edits or report issues
Dinkun Chen (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Car
Mercedes-Benz Mercedesbenz Cla
"for this 2026 car of the year award in North America, Audi A5, Dodge Charger, Hondra Perlut, Kia K4 hatchback, Mercedes-Benz CLA, and Nissan Centra. I'm surprised that I'm not seeing the Nissan Leaf, because probably it's the most important"
Sign in to suggest edits or report issues
EurovisionNim (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Car
Nissan Leaf
"...tra. I'm surprised that I'm not seeing the Nissan Leaf, because probably it's the most important car on ..."
Sign in to suggest edits or report issues
LukaCali (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Car
Nissan Sentra
"The ones that won't win, in my opinion. Nissan Sentra is not going to win, even though it's probably th..."
Sign in to suggest edits or report issues
Riley from Christchurch, New Zealand (CC BY 2.0)
Car
Honda Prelude
"...t, what do you think, Lauren? Honestly, the Honda Prelude, I haven't driven it yet because we've only seen ..."
Sign in to suggest edits or report issues
MercurySable99 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Car
Honda Civic
"sneak peeks. But is the Civic revised pretty much? Oh, well, that it should be ..."
Sign in to suggest edits or report issues
OWS Photography (CC BY 4.0)
Car
Acura Integra
"...ver or something in between, honest, the CVT, the Integra, all these cars look the same inside and out more..."
Sign in to suggest edits or report issues
dave_7 from Lethbridge, Canada (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Car
Ford Maverick
"...aven't driven the Lobo edition, but I do like the Maverick. It was a ton of fun."
Sign in to suggest edits or report issues
Photo by Rivian (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Car
Rivian R1T
"Yeah. So it's ready for the Rivian R1T quad motor, which is also bearing in the original..."
Sign in to suggest edits or report issues
Baron Maddock (CC BY 4.0)
Car
Cadillac Escalade
"...hat I've driven or like drove last week, Cadillac Escalade, AQ, another electric, the bigger one. And then C..."
Sign in to suggest edits or report issues
OWS Photography (CC BY 4.0)
Car
Ford Expedition
"...then Cadillac has the OPTIQ and the Vistik 2 Ford Expedition Genesis GV70, which I don't think is completely n..."
Sign in to suggest edits or report issues
Navigator84 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Car
Cadillac Optiq
"...ectric, the bigger one. And then Cadillac has the OPTIQ and the Vistik 2 Ford Expedition Genesis GV70, wh..."
Sign in to suggest edits or report issues
Calreyn88 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Car
Hyundai Genesis
"...ac has the OPTIQ and the Vistik 2 Ford Expedition Genesis GV70, which I don't think is completely new."
Sign in to suggest edits or report issues
Dinkun Chen (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Car
Genesis GV70
"...he OPTIQ and the Vistik 2 Ford Expedition Genesis GV70, which I don't think is completely new. It's our ..."
Sign in to suggest edits or report issues
IFCAR (Public domain)
Car
Honda Passport
"...h, but again, I think it's it's pretty new. Honda Passport, Ioni 9 Hyundai Palisade, which I think is the be..."
Sign in to suggest edits or report issues
Alexander-93 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Car
Hyundai Palisade
"...s it's pretty new. Honda Passport, Ioni 9 Hyundai Palisade, which I think is the best. I really like that ca..."
Sign in to suggest edits or report issues
Matti Blume (CC BY-SA)
Car
Lucid Gravity
"I do too. Cherokee, the Lucid Gravity, Nissan Leaf, again, I think maybe going to get s..."
Sign in to suggest edits or report issues
Mr.choppers (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Car
Jeep Cherokee
"I do too. Cherokee, the Lucid Gravity, Nissan Leaf, again, I think m..."
Sign in to suggest edits or report issues
IFCAR (Public domain)
Car
Toyota 4Runner
"...e votes, Polestar 4, Subaru Foster Hybrid, Toyota 4Runner, which is really good for that we're going to dri..."
Sign in to suggest edits or report issues
JustAnotherCarDesigner (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Car
Polestar 4
"...af, again, I think maybe going to get some votes, Polestar 4, Subaru Foster Hybrid, Toyota 4Runner, which is r..."
Sign in to suggest edits or report issues
TTTNIS (CC0)
Car
Toyota RAV4
"...ool, but I think it's not going to do it. But the RAV4 I expect to do really well. The T1 was excellent."
Sign in to suggest edits or report issues
Grenex at English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Car
Delorean DMC-12
"... wonder, or at least I will, the I wish I had the DeLorean and go back to the other timeline where GM doesn'..."
Sign in to suggest edits or report issues
IFCAR (Public domain)
Car
Chevrolet Volt
"...head of the market on with the cat with the Chevy Volt and the Cadillac. What was it called?"
Sign in to suggest edits or report issues
MercurySable99 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Car
Cadillac XLR
"...convertible version of the bolt. But anyways, the XLR was it? It was it was a it was a volt in a tuxedo..."
Sign in to suggest edits or report issues
S5A-0043 (CC BY 2.0)
Car
Toyota Camry
"... It's the new Honda Civic or Honda Corp or Toyota Camry, whatever you want to call it."
Sign in to suggest edits or report issues
30 cars
30 cars featured
Request an Explanation
Heard something you'd like explained? We'll add it to this episode.
Sign in to request explanations for terms you heard.
Want to learn more?
Browse our glossary for plain-English explanations of automotive terms, jargon, and concepts.
Help improve this episode
See something that's not quite right? Our annotations are AI-generated and can sometimes miss the mark. Click the flag icon on any annotation to suggest a correction.
Report incorrect info
Suggest better explanations
Flag missing cars
More from AI Auto Podcast
S7-E38: Are Chinese EVs Being Banned? The Future of American Cars
Jul 2, 2026
S7E37: Automotive Media 2026 — Survival, Influence, and the Fight for Credibility
Jun 25, 2026
S7E36: Top 10 Differences Between Traditional Automotive Media and New Media in 2026
Jun 18, 2026
S7E35 - Ultimate 2026 Press Trip Survival Guide: What Media Should NEVER Do + What PR Pros Must Fix
Jun 10, 2026