North America Thinks Honda’s Prelude Deserves A Shot At Car Of The Year

  • Finalists for North American Car, Truck, and Utility of the Year revealed.
  • Notable upsets and questionable picks include the pricey Honda Prelude.
  • The winners will be announced in January at the 2026 Detroit Auto Show.

The Los Angeles Auto Show is underway and the event kicked off with the unveiling of the finalists for North American Car, Truck and Utility Vehicle of the Year awards. They’ll likely be controversial as some questionable candidates advanced, while more qualified contenders didn’t.

Getting the foreshadowing out of the way, the finalists for 2026 North American Car of the Year are the Dodge Charger, Honda Prelude, and Nissan Sentra. They beat out the Audi A5, Kia K4 Hatchback, and Mercedes CLA.

More: Renault 5 Wins European Car Of The Year; Ranger, Civic And ID. Buzz The American

This isn’t terribly surprising, although it is worth noting the Prelude got the nod. It’s expensive, slow, and significantly less powerful than competitors. In effect, it’s the Cadillac ELR of the modern era.

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The 2026 North American Truck of the Year was shaping up to be a snooze fest as half the contenders were either a trim level or an engine variant. Shockingly, two of these – the Ford Maverick Lobo and Ram 1500 Hemi – made it to the finals. That’s surprising as one of the contenders was the 1,025 hp (764 kW / 1,039 PS) Rivian R1T Quad Motor.

However, the facelifted Ram 2500 will likely take home top honors. It features updated styling, an improved interior, and a new 6.7-liter Cummins turbodiesel engine that produces 430 hp (321 kW / 436 PS) and 1,075 lb-ft (1,456 Nm) of torque.

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Some of the most notable upsets occurred in the battle for 2026 North American Utility Vehicle of the Year. The three finalists are the Hyundai Palisade, Lucid Gravity, and Nissan Leaf.

They beat out a number of notable new entries including the Jeep Cherokee, Honda Passport, Toyota 4Runner, and Toyota RAV4. Cadillac was also completely shut out despite having three contenders in the form of the Optiq, Vistiq, and Escalade IQ.

The winners will be announced at the Detroit Auto Show in January, but feel free to let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

North America Thinks Honda’s Prelude Deserves A Shot At Car Of The Year
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The Auto World

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