- Slate and the $103K TRX compete in the same category.
- Several contenders haven’t reached customers or comparative testing.
- No American brands made the passenger-car shortlist.
Award season has officially entered the silly part of the calendar. The North American Car, Truck and Utility Vehicle of the Year organization has revealed its “Best of 2027” contenders, comprising 25 vehicles selected from an initial field of 56. Some are sensible choices. Others make the whole exercise look more like an upcoming-product directory than an evaluation of the year’s best vehicles.
Nothing demonstrates that better than the truck category. Its four contenders are the Chevrolet Silverado, GMC Sierra, Ram 1500 SRT TRX, and Slate Truck. Yes, the bare-bones electric pickup that customers still can’t take delivery of is competing against a 777-hp (580 kW) supercharged halo truck costing more than $100,000.
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The Slate remains officially in preproduction, although some journalists have driven or ridden in prototypes. The TRX, meanwhile, is a spectacularly excessive toy that few buyers need and even fewer can afford. Somehow, both are candidates for the same “Truck of the Year” title.
The passenger-car category is nearly as peculiar. It contains the Audi A6, Hyundai Ioniq 6 N, Kia K4 Hatchback, Lexus ES, and Mercedes-Benz CLA 220 Hybrid. Not one comes from an American brand. Admittedly, “North American” describes the market rather than the nationality of the automaker, but it’s still a strange look for an award announced out of Detroit.
Things get murkier in the utility category. The Audi Q9 and Kia EV3 both made the cut despite neither having reached American customers. The EV3 has at least been driven overseas and is due to launch in the U.S. late this year, with prices starting at $29,890 before destination. The Q9 was only unveiled in July, and Audi says deliveries won’t begin until the fourth quarter.
To be fair, NACTOY hasn’t declared any of these vehicles finalists, much less winners. NACTOY intends to invite all 25 vehicles to its October 20–22 comparison event, but has not confirmed that every contender, including the preproduction Slate, Audi Q9, and US-spec Kia EV3, will actually be available for jurors to drive. That explains the process, but it doesn’t make the “Best of 2027” branding any less absurd. If the jurors still need their big comparative drive, this isn’t yet a list of the best vehicles. It’s a list of the vehicles they hope might be.
Lead Image: RAM / Slate Auto
