A jury of 53 independent journalist from the U.S. and Canada have selected the all-new Honda Civic as the 2016 North American Car of the Year and awarded the Volvo XC90 2016 North American Truck of the Year honors. It was the second time that each vehicle had been singled out for this prestigious distinction.
Also: Class of 2016 — New Cars Ready to Roll
The 10th-generation Honda Civic — which is overall winner in the 2016 Kelley Blue Book Best Buy Awards — received a total of 203 votes, besting the redesigned Chevrolet Malibu and Mazda MX-5 which tallied 181 and 146, respectively.
First vehicle to be spun from the automaker’s new Scalable Platform Architecture, the Volvo XC90 was more dominant in its victory. The luxury SUV earned 310 votes from the judges compared to 111 for the redesigned Honda Pilot and 109 for the new Nissan Titan XD pickup.
Also: Kelley Blue Book Best Buy Awards of 2016
Now in its 23rd year, the North American Car of the Year and North American Truck/SUV of the Year Awards are presented annually at a ceremony that coincides with the opening of the annual Detroit Auto Show. Each juror has 25 votes to distribute as they see fit among the respective finalists in each category. The 2015 winners were the Volkswagen Golf and the Ford F-150 pickup.
Editor’s Note: KBB’s Jack R. Nerad and Matt DeLorenzo are members of the North American Car and Truck of the Year jury.
