Hyundai Elantra Wins 2021 North American Car of the Year
Published on Mon, Jan 11, 2021
By: The LACar Editorial Staff
The prestigious award caps off a resilient year for Hyundai North America and the Elantra, beating out Nissan and Genesis for the top prize.
For the second time in 9 years, the Hyundai Elantra has been crowned the North American Car of the Year. The highly-coveted award was bestowed by the North American Car, Utility and Truck of the Year (NACTOY) automotive media jury. The winner was announced during a virtual event.
Only two other cars have won multiple North American Car of the Year awards: the Chevrolet Corvette and Honda Civic. I’d say the Elantra is in good company.
Images, b-roll footage, press releases and specifications for the 2021 Elantra can be found at https://www.hyundainews.com/en-us/models/hyundai-elantra-2021-elantra.
“Thank you to all of the jurors. I am honored to accept this award on behalf of the entire company, our Alabama and Ulsan plant employees who build Elantra and our dealers,” said José Muñoz, Global Chief Operating Officer of Hyundai Motor Company, president and CEO, Hyundai Motor North America and Hyundai Motor America. “Elantra is a symbol of our blend of dynamic design, advanced technology and great fuel economy. Elantra customers are going to experience all of the hard work and dedication that went into making this class-leading car.”
40 new vehicles underwent rigorous testing by the NACTOY jury before separating the top three cars to be 2021 finalists. The Nissan Sentra and Genesis G80 rounded out the top three.
Now in their 28th year, the NACTOY awards are selected through a series of three separate votes by a diverse jury of automotive journalists from numerous outlets in the United States and Canada. Jurors evaluate the finalists based on segment leadership, innovation, design, safety, handling, driver satisfaction and value for the dollar.
Founded in 1994, these awards are the longest-running new-vehicle awards not associated with a single publication, website, radio or television station. Because of the jurors’ independence, these awards are among the most respected in the industry.
