If you needed more confirmation that the 2020 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray is a breakthrough car, you now have it. The North American Car of the Year jury, an independent non-profit group of 50 prestigious journalists from the United States and Canada, have just named the Corvette the North American Car of the Year.
The Kia Telluride, an all-new midsize SUV, was named 2020 North American Utility of the Year and the Jeep Gladiator, an all-new midsize truck, was named North American Truck of the Year. The awards were presented in a special program held at the TCF Center in downtown Detroit in cooperation with the Detroit Auto Dealers Association and the North American International Auto Show. The three winning vehicles were selected from fields of three finalists in each category, all new to the market or significantly renewed this year.
The 2020 Car of the Year finalists included, in addition to the winning the Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, the Hyundai Sonata midsize sedan and the Toyota Supra sports car. The North American Utility of the Year finalists included the Hyundai Palisade midsize crossover SUV and the Lincoln Aviator luxury midsize crossover in addition to the winning Telluride.
Both the Palisade and Telluride ride on the same chassis and both feature the same powertrain, but styling and feature differences set them apart. The luxury-brand Lincoln Aviator is yet another midsize SUV, and it shares much of its engineering with the all-new 2020 Ford Explorer.
In winning the North American Truck of the Year award the Jeep Gladiator bested finalists Ford Ranger, a midsize pickup, and the Ram Heavy-Duty pickup.
The awards testing and evaluation started several months ago as new vehicles in each category were introduced to the public. Since that time the 50-person North American Car of the Year jury has driven, researched and evaluated all the new and significantly renewed models for the 2020 model year. The winners of each of the three prestigious awards were revealed after votes from the jurors were audited by Deloitte LLP, the North American Car of the Year accounting firm of record, and announced on stage in Detroit.
Editor’s Note: Jack R. Nerad, author of this article, is a member of the North American Car of the Year jury, and has just been elected the non-profit organization’s vice president.
