The editors of Car and Driver have produced their list of the ten best (sorry, they spell it “10Best”) cars and trucks of 2022. The Ram 1500 came out tops in pickups, America’s largest single vehicle segment, beating the Ford F-series and the GM Silverado and Sierra (as well as the Colorado, Ranger, and such).
GM had three cars on the list: the Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing, Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing, and Chevrolet Corvette, all niche vehicles. Ford’s Bronco beat the Wrangler and many other SUVs—and the first sentence notes the Jeep Wrangler, with its “antiquated charm” compared to the “charismatically nostalgic” Bronco.
Toyota, the best selling American brand of 2021 and the world’s top selling automaker, was only on the list for the Subaru BRZ in Toyota GR86 form. Volkswagen had two entries, the Golf GTI and Porsche 718. All of South Korea was represented by the Kia Tulluride, while the rest of Japan was represented by the Ford Bronco. Audi, BMW, and Mercedes were no-shows.
The top ten was just one part of the awards announced today; that list, driven by the editors’ preferences rather than the market, was dominated by traditional car styles. Finding the best in each subcategory was the work of the editors’ choice awards—a stunning 57 of them, with some classes having multiple winners, listed in alphabetical order. Stellantis performed up to its U.S. market share, garnering seven wins (13%):
- Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio: Compact luxury SUV (category had six winners)
- Jeep Grand Cherokee: Midsize SUV
- Jeep Grand Cherokee L: Midsize SUV (category had nine winners)
- Ram 1500 and Ram 1500 TRX: Full-size pickup truck (four winners; others were F-150 and Raptor)
- Ram 2500/3500: Heavy Duty Pickup (sole winner)
- Chrysler Pacifica: “Minivan” (winner with Odyssey and Carnival)
Stellantis does not play at all in some categories, within the United States, such as station wagon, luxury station wagon, electric car, and luxury electric car. It was odd to see the Hellcats missing in the muscle car category, when the Camaro was present. Most car buyers seem to disagree with Car and Driver here.
David Zatz started what was to become the world’s biggest, most comprehensive Mopar site in 1994 as he pursued a career in organizational research and change. After a chemo-induced break, during which he wrote car books covering Vipers, minivans, and Jeeps, he returned with Patrick Rall to create StellPower.com for daily news, and to set up MoTales for mo’ tales.
David Zatz has around 30 years of experience in covering Chrysler/Mopar news and history, and most recently wrote Century of Chrysler, a 100-year retrospective on the Chrysler marque.
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