Also Dude, Truck Of The Year Is Not The Preferred Nomenclature. Truck/Utility, Please

by Derek Kreindler

Published: January 31st, 2012

also dude truck of the year is not the preferred nomenclature truck utility please

The shifty definition of “truck” for the NACOTY Truck of the year awards means that car-based vehicles like the Ford Explorer and Range Rover Evoque are eligible to win the “Truck of the Year Award” – but not for much longer.

The NACOTY jury has given crossovers an out, by re-branding the award as “Truck/Utility of the Year”. Let’s face it – if the award were restricted to just body-on-frame type truck or SUVs, the pool of candidates would be pretty limited. If you’re a die-hard truck guy, there’s still the Texas Truck Rodeo.

#CarOfTheYear #Crossover #SUV #TruckOfTheYear #Trucks

Derek Kreindler

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10 of 13 comments

Replica on Jan 31, 2012

well, that's just like, your opinion, man.

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- Eddie_515 on Jan 31, 2012
  
  The ford abides...
  
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Trk2 on Jan 31, 2012

"car-based vehicles like the Ford Explorer and Range Rover Evoque" Is your point that the Jeep Cherokee also has always been a car? Is there a grandfather clause for the Cherokee that I am unaware of? Or is this just pointless semantics?

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- Bikegoesbaa on Jan 31, 2012
  
  What car is the Cherokee or Grand Cherokee based on? Or, to put it another way, what car can I buy that shares a platform with the Cherokee or Grand Cherokee?
  
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- Pete Zaitcev on Jan 31, 2012
  
  @bikegoesbaa You can buy a Mercedes ML after 2011. But yeah.
  
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- Photog02 on Jan 31, 2012
  
  No... but there is a Ford Taurus or Lincoln MKS that you can buy as a relative to your Explorer, or a Ford Mondeo that you can buy as a complement to your Rangie. Seriously, though, I think the point is that these cute-UVs were based on in-production car platforms. The Cherokee (XJ) and Grand Cherokee (ZJ-present) were not based on automobile platforms and were instead designed as utility vehicles.
  
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- Brian E on Jan 31, 2012
  
  @photog02 So what? Shouldn't utility be the measure of a utility?
  
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- Jellybean on Jan 31, 2012
  
  @photog02 Platforms Shalforms.
  
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Daviel on Jan 31, 2012

That's not a truck. The F-150 is the truck of the year - every year. Ford IS the best in Texas

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Niky on Feb 01, 2012

We've just finished the paperwork for our local Car-Of-The-Year, and the arguments about ladders versus unibodies never ends. On my side, I don't see the point in separating the two anymore... except as an easy out for uncompetitive vehicles to garner an award or two.

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