Last week, at the Detroit Auto Show, the winners of the 2026 North American Car, Truck, and Utility Vehicle of the Year awards were announced. Ahead of the ceremony, Autoblog had a chance to talk to NACTOY President Jeff Gilbert about how jurors come to their decisions. One of the questions we were most keen on asking was this: After two decades in the industry, are there any regrets you have about an award, or any times you wish you could go back and recast your vote? Gilbert didn’t ponder long, saying, “You don’t have to go back two decades, you only have to go back one year.” The winners in 2025 were the Honda Civic Hybrid (Car of the Year), Ford Ranger (Truck of the Year), and Volkswagen ID. Buzz (Utility of the Year), and it’s the latter that Gilbert reveals was a sub-par choice in retrospect.
Why the 2025 NACTOY Utility Winner Was a Bust
Some context: the Volkswagen ID. Buzz debuted in the United States in June 2023, with a presentation in Huntington Beach, California, and at the time, hype (or buzz) around the vehicle was strong. The electric minivan had been faithful to the nostalgic concept that preceded it, and its spacious interior looked like a winning ingredient for families looking to go electric with a trusted automaker. At the time, jurors praised its decent range, useful features, fun-to-drive character, and retro-futuristic design. “No vehicle in the last ten years has captured the imagination, while also bringing the past into the future, better than the Volkswagen ID. Buzz. It is an inspired Volkswagen design for the ages… again,” said one juror. But with pricing in the mid-$70k region for higher trims, sales were less than stellar, and even with celebrity endorsement from Fluffy Garcia, buyers looked elsewhere. The result? Volkswagen USA announced that there would be no ID. Buzz for the 2026 model year, and Gilbert acknowledges that this makes the award seem like a bust.
NACTOY President: 2025 Award Almost Went to Hyundai
Gilbert explained: “If you look at North American Utility of the Year [for 2025], it was the VW ID. Buzz, which was a fun vehicle to drive, but the mere fact that, okay, Volkswagen has pulled that from the market this year… I think if jurors knew what the sales output was gonna be for the vehicle, maybe they would have decided differently. That was an extremely close vote; only a couple of points separated the ID. Buzz from the Hyundai Santa Fe, and y’know, in hindsight, if that vote was taken today, I don’t know if it would have come out the same way. But hindsight is 20/20, you take your best shot.” The ID. Buzz suffered from defects that earned it last place in the 2025 J.D. Power Dependability Study, so poor sales aren’t the only blot on its American ledger.
Related: All The EVs That Died In 2025
Gilbert also noted that a vehicle he couldn’t recall “eight or nine years ago” won an award and then got “terrible” J.D. Power Dependability Study scores the following year. This is the struggle in awarding a new vehicle a prestigious honor — a juror cannot know what that vehicle is like after extended periods of ownership and use, and it’s not just VW’s EVs that have suffered in long-term owner surveys. The Ford Bronco and Ford Maverick were winners in 2022, and Ford achieved below-average problem rates in the following year’s J.D. Power studies. Will the 2026 NACTOY Car of the Year, the Dodge Charger, be looked back on similarly to the ID. Buzz, years from now? Sales continue to be sluggish while prices rise…
