Toyota Prius Crowned As NACTOY’s 2024 Car of The Year

The fifth-gen Toyota Prius has clinched the coveted NACTOY 2024 Car of the Year award

The fifth-gen Toyota Prius is one of the most polarising and exciting cars to make its landfall last year, with the sleek hybrid saloon racking up awards and accolades left and right. Aside from bagging the Japan Car of the Year award for 2023–24, the new Prius has also won the coveted North American Car, Truck, and Utility Vehicle of the Year (NACTOY) award for 2024.

Winning NACTOY’s Car of the Year category, both the standard Prius and its plug-in hybrid (PHEV) twin Prius Prime piped down two other finalists in the form of the new tenth-gen Honda Accord and the sleek Hyundai Ioniq 6 electric saloon. This victory is also significant for both Toyota and Prius, as the last Toyota model to win this prestigious award was the second-gen Prius, which coincidentally clinched the title 20 years ago in 2004.

The Prius’ triumph also continues the three-year streak of Japanese marques winning the main NACTOY title, with the previous two winners being the Acura Integra and the Honda Civic.

The Kia EV9 (top) piped down its Korean compatriots Genesis Electric GV70 (left) & Hyundai Kona (right) for NACTOY's 2024 Utility Vehicle of the Year category

Completing the trio of winners for the NACTOY 2024 awards were the Ford Super Duty and Kia EV9, who’ve won the Truck of the Year and Utility Vehicle of the Year awards, respectively. For the latter category, the three finalists were all hailing from South Korea, with the futuristic Kia EV9 EV SUV bringing the title home ahead of fellow compatriots Genesis Electrified GV70 and the Hyundai Kona/Kona EV.

Meanwhile, the Ford Super Duty managed to pip down the Chevy duo of the Colorado and the Silverado EV to take home the Truck of the Year award. This triumph continues the Blue Oval marque’s dominance as the best truck in North America for four consecutive years, starting with the Ford F-150 back in 2021, the Ford Maverick in 2022, and the Ford F-150 Lightning EV in 2023.

For its 30th instalment this year, NACTOY initiated the award back in July 2023 by unveiling the initial 52 competitors for the award. This list was further refined to only 25 vehicles, which were then recognised as “The Best of 2024” at the Detroit Auto Show last year. Subsequently, the list was narrowed down further to a trio of finalists for each main category, which were revealed at the LA Auto Show.