DETROIT, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- After a two-year hiatus as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2022 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS), also called Detroit Auto Show, started Wednesday, with North American Car, Truck and SUV of the Year (NACTOY) semifinalists for 2023 announced.
The 50 jurors whittled the semifinal list down to 26 from 47 vehicles, including 31 SUVs or crossovers. It was the highest number of eligible vehicles, according to NACTOY officials, in the 29-year history of the awards. The 26 semifinalists include 10 cars, three trucks and 13 crossovers and SUVs.
Electric vehicles continue to grow in popularity as 20 out of the 26 semifinalists for 2023 NACTOY are battery electrics.
"That's right," said NACTOY President Gary Witzenburg during an announcement Wednesday at the auto show. "Twenty of them are battery electrics, indicative of the rapidly growing number of (battery electrics) coming to market these days."
"What's happening in the auto industry, now made unavoidably apparent by the NACTOY choices, is that electrification is here to stay," said Paul A. Eisenstein, a juror who voted the semifinalists. "And it's not because of mandates. It's because automakers have committed to producing battery vehicles that consumers will really embrace for all the positive attributes they bring."
An important next step in the year-long process is an annual comparison drive that will take place on Oct. 17-20, where jurors will evaluate the semifinalist vehicles before voting to select the three finalists in each group. The finalists will be announced at the Los Angeles Auto Show on Nov. 16, and winners will be announced at a special event in Detroit on Jan. 11, 2023.
The winners for the 2022 model year were Honda Civic as Car of the Year, Ford Maverick as Truck of the Year and Ford Bronco for Utility of the Year, as were announced in January 2022.
To be eligible for NACTOY awards, vehicles must be all or substantially new and available for purchase before the end of the 2023 calendar year.
Judged by 50 independent journalists, NACTOY is one of the industry's most prestigious awards.
Revealing the semifinalists during the NAIAS is a first. NAIAS used to be an early January event. But the auto show organizers were tired of fight with the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) for top news announcements from the automotive industry and the bitter cold winters in Detroit, and decided to move the dates of the event to early fall in 2020 after the conclusion of the 2019 show in early January.
The 2022 show is smaller in scope and more focused on consumers. Five new vehicles are expected to be debuted at the show, including the seventh-generation Ford Mustang.
Launched in 1899, Detroit Auto Show is among the largest auto shows in North America.
