 the winningest car in NACTOY history. More on the Civic: Check out how Honda made its crowd-pleaser even more […] "'Pin It")
Honda Civic Wins 2022 North American Car of the Year
Photo: Honda
You know Honda had to do it to ‘em. The all-new Honda Civic was named the 2022 North American Car of the Year earlier this month, making the little compact that could (and can and does) the winningest car in NACTOY history.
More on the Civic: Check out how Honda made its crowd-pleaser even more of a pleasure to drive
“The Honda Civic has long set the standard by which other compact cars are measured and this all-new Civic raised that bar in every conceivable way,” said Michael Kistemaker, assistant vice president of Honda national sales, American Honda Motor Co., Inc.
And raise the bar it sure did. Honda redesigned the popular Civic inside out, serving up a smooth-looking car with personality that belies its nice little price. It’s also a blast to drive thanks in particular to the optional 1.5-liter turbo that throws down 180 horsepower and 177 lb-ft of torque. When you couple that with the fact that the turbo also returns up to 42 mpg on the highway? Not much of a surprise the Civic came out on top again.
Civic score marks Honda’s fourth win in six years
Photo: Honda
By picking up the North American Car of the Year award, the all-new Civic becomes the fourth Honda in six years to win a NACTOY. The most recent was the Honda Accord, which won North American Car of the Year in 2018. Other honorees in this stretch include the Honda Ridgeline in 2017 and, yes, the Civic again in 2016.
But that wasn’t the Honda Civic’s first North American Car of the Year award win. It also won that award in 2008, which brings its total NACTOY wins to three. That means it has more North American Car of the Year awards than any other, including biggies like the Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Corvette.
To win this year’s award, the Civic had to defeat fellow finalists the Lucid Air and Volkswagen Golf R/Golf GTI. A panel of 50 jurors, all independent automotive experts, gave the Civic a wide margin of victory with 241 points to the No. 2 Air’s 170 points.
Photo: Honda
Perhaps the best pull quote from the jurors came from Kelley Blue Book Executive Editorial Director Jack R. Nerad.
“If carmakers were limited to building just one car model the Honda Civic should be that model,” Nerad wrote. “It combines just about every positive attribute you can think of — low-cost, high fuel efficiency, utility, comfort, dependability, and fun to drive among them.”
Lawrence Ulrich, formerly of The New York Times and The Drive, echoed those sentiments by calling the Civic “Honda at its very best … the kind of affordable car that every automaker should aspire to.”
Is the 2023 Honda HR-V a NACTOY shoo-in?
Photo: Honda
Honda no doubt has its sights set on another North American Car, Truck, or Utility of the Year award next year. Its leading candidate could be the all-new HR-V, which Honda expects to launch sometime this year. Honda says that 2022 is its “Year of the Crossover,” which suggests there could be even more NACTOY contenders on the horizon.
Kyle S. Johnson lives in Cincinnati, a city known by many as “the Cincinnati of Southwest Ohio.” He enjoys professional wrestling, Halloween, and also other things. He has been writing for a while, and he plans to continue to write well into the future. See more articles by Kyle.