For the past six years Ford Motor has had bragging rights when it came to winning the North American Truck of the Year award – but this year it will not.
The North American Car, Truck and Utility Vehicle of the Year (NACTOY) jurors released the list of “Best of 2027” vehicles this week. Not one of the 25 vehicles – which will undergo strict judging scrutiny for the rest of the year before three win at the Detroit Auto Show in January – was a Ford vehicle.
It is shocking considering that in January 2026, Ford won truck of the year with the Maverick Lobo, in 2025 Ford won with the Ranger midsize pickup, in 2024 with the Super Duty, 2023 with the F-150 Lightning, 2022 with the Maverick and 2021 with the F-150, according to NACTOY website. Ford has
won in other categories, too, during those years such as North American Utility of the Year in 2022 with Bronco and in that same category in 2021 with Mustang Mach-E SUV.
NACTOY jurors explained Ford's absence from the list as basically bad timing in its product cycle. That's because, to be considered for a NACTOY award, a vehicle must be either all-new or significantly redesigned and Ford lacked cars that met either of those requirements.
“Ford canceled a lot of electric vehicles that were supposed to be on the road by now and those cancelations left holes in its lineup. It’s fair to say that’s why they don’t have more vehicles competing for these honors this year," said Detroit Free Press auto critic Mark Phelan, who is a NACTOY juror and board member.
Phelan noted the NACTOY jurors did consider two Mustang derivatives that had enough changes to their design to be evaluated. But the vehicles did not get enough votes to make the cut to the "best of" 25 contenders.
"They just fell short in terms of how much changes they had this year and how that compares to other vehicles that are new and significantly updated," Phelan said of the Mustangs.
Wall Street seems to understand and forgive Ford's absence from the list – for now.
"Ford is going through a transition period and has a lull in new vehicles hitting the market," Dan Ives, partner and senior managing director at New York-based investment banking firm Yorkville Ives, told the Detroit Free Press. "Not being on this list is not a good look for Ford, but (CEO Jim) Farley is focused on driving growth and innovation the next few years. If they are not on this list next year it would be a black eye moment."
'Ford took its eye off the ball'
When asked for a comment for this article, Ford spokesman Mike Levine sent an emailed statement: "We have a winning lineup of vehicles that customers love, and we’re proud to have earned NACTOY ‘Truck of the Year’ the last six years in a row."
So what happened this year? Industry experts said Ford's business overhaul left product holes in its lineup that will cost it a NACTOY award.
In December 2025, Ford announced it was restructuring its business to the tune of $19.5 billion to shift focus from what was to be a future featuring all-electric vehicles to one, in the near-term at least, that offers more hybrids and gasoline powertrains.
As part of that shift, Ford discontinued the Ford Escape and Lincoln Corsair small SUVs in December. Both had been built at Ford's Louisville Assembly Plant in Kentucky. Ford is retooling that plant to start making an all-electric midsize pickup called Fathom on its new UEV platform there early next year to be followed by a family of EVs.
Phelan said Ford's overhaul likely disrupted its product planning companywide, eventhough other automakers such as General Motors and Stellantis have also changed product plans and have vehicles on the NACTOY list.
"An automaker has to be able walk and chew gum. It has to do two things at the same time: develop a line of electric vehicles and at the same time keep its gasoline and hybrid vehicles new and competitive. Ford did not do that as well as some of its competitors," Phelan said. "Ford took its eye off the ball."
Maybe next year for Ford
The 25 vehicles NACTOY listed – which include pickups such as the Chevrolet Silverado 1500, GMC Sierra 1500, Ram 1500 TRX SRT, and other vehicles, such as the Chevrolet Bolt and Jeep Cherokee, to name a few – were chosen by 46 automotive journalists who work in Canada, Mexico and the United States. Those 25 vehicles were selected from 56 new cars, trucks and SUVs already on sale, or expected to hit the market before the end of this year. The list includes vehicles with electric, hybrid and gasoline-powered drivetrains.
Phelan said the 25 "best of" vehicles will be narrowed down to nine finalists in three categories – best car, truck and utility – which will be announced in November at the Los Angeles Auto Show. The winner in each category will be announced Jan. 14 at Detroit Auto Show.
NACTOY juror and auto reporter for radio's WWJ (AM-950) Jeff Gilbert described Ford as "a perennial winner" of a NACTOY award that just fell prey to product cadence this time around.
"It has nothing to do with any of the quality issues at Ford, it’s strictly product timetable for them," Gilbert said.
Ford leads the industry in recallsthis year and has struggled with its quality over the past few years. But the quality of Ford's newer products is improving. The carmaker was ranked first by JD Power in an Intial Quality Survey this year among mainstream brands for the top quality in the first 90 days of vehicle ownership.
“They have a lot of stuff in the pipeline that we’ll see," Gilbert said. "I imagine we’ll see them in a big way (for NACTOY consideration) next year.”
Ford will launch its new all-electric midsize pickup, Fathom, off its new UEV plaform next year.
As the Detroit Free Press reported last month, sources said Ford intends to bring to market several new vehicles in the next few years, which Ford has not publicly confirmed and the vehicle plans are subject to change based on market conditions. But sources said Ford is considering a four-door Mustang, a Ford small SUV to replace the Escape, for Lincoln an all-new SUV based on the Bronco design, and possibly five new all-electric vehicles based off the new UEV platform.
How much does winning matter?
Phelan said winning the North American vehicle of the year award is a huge marketing boon.
“These awards are used extensively in marketing and automakers invest millions of dollars in advertising to tout it when they win an award like this," Phelan said. "They have got ads ready to run the moment the award is announced.”
That may be so, but industry observers also note that its impact on sales is fairly negligible.
"Automakers ... like getting earned media. It's free! Some automakers even offer bonuses to execs whose programs win awards," said John McElroy, industry expert and host of "Autoline After Hours," in an email to the Detroit Free Press. "Third-party endorsements are always nice because they're more credible to the public. But there is no correlation to car of the year awards and sales. In fact, just the opposite. Some of the past winners have turned out to be total sales duds."
McElroy listed the 2026 Dodge Charger, 2025 VW ID Buzz, 2024 Kia EV9 and 2023 Ford Lightinng and Kia EV6 as examples of winners on the stage, but disappointing in the showroom.
Mobility Global data does not indicate what impact awards have had on sales, but some data does show that the age of an automaker’s portfolio can have an impact, Stephanie Brinley, associate director at Mobility Global, a leading provider of auto industry data, intelligence and forecasting, said in an email.
“Typically, an automaker does see sales improve with fresh products, and products tend to see sales slow in the later years of a lifecycle," Brinley told the Detroit Free Press. "In that way, the overall age of Ford’s portfolio can have an impact on sales.”
But it is a big point of pride. Phelan recalls at the January 2026 auto show a Ford executive approached him with elation over the fact that it was the sixth year in a row Ford had won the truck of the year category.
But some are blase to the whole affair. Morningstar autos analyst David Whiston said Ford's NACTOY winning streak "had to end at some point."
"I don’t think Wall Street cares a ton about this, but you do want to see them winning it from time to time to show they are a leader," Whiston told the Detroit Free Press. "Every year is not essential. What matters to the stock is how much free cash flow is generated and how consistent will that generation be and are results better or worse than expected each quarter."
Jamie L. LaReau is the senior autos writer for USA TODAY Co. who covers Ford Motor Co. for the Detroit Free Press. Contact Jamie at jlareau@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @jlareauan. To sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Ford's 6-year winning streak for truck of the year comes to an end
