The Honda Civic Hybrid won the 2025 North American Car of the Year award, while the Ford Ranger took the truck honors and the Volkswagen ID. Buzz won the utility award.

The honorees, announced Friday morning during an Automotive Press Association event at the opening of the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, were decided by a group of 50 journalists from the United States and Canada. According to the North American Car, Truck and Utility Vehicle of the Year awards organization, they evaluate factors such as innovation, design, performance, driver satisfaction and value.

Friday marked the long-awaited return of the awards to the traditional January Detroit auto show after being held elsewhere for the past few years after the show faced pandemic-related delays and was hosted during the fall. .

Automakers appreciate the awards as an important gauge of how the media perceives their new and refreshed vehicles, and buyers often look to them to make purchasing decisions.

In addition to the winning Honda Civic Hybrid, car finalists included the Kia K4 compact and the Toyota Camry.

Truck finalists this year included the full-size Ram 1500 along with the Toyota Tacoma midsize pickup, while the other utility finalists were the Chevrolet Equinox electric vehicle and the Hyundai Santa Fe crossover.

This year’s finalists were less dominated by pure EVs than in 2023, but the list offered a solid mix of gasoline-powered, hybrid and electric vehicles.