Do "Car of the Year" awards mean anything?

Today, we’re talking about “Car of the Year” awards and whether they mean anything or not.

Have you ever purchased a car based entirely on these awards? If so, don’t take offense by what we wrote.

On another piece of news, we’ve just released “Ask George!” our virtual mechanic! It can assist you with all your automotive questions. You can check it out here.

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Do “Car Of The Year” Awards Mean Anything?

When was the last time someone told you, "My car won the Car of the Year Award, and that's why I bought it?"

Chances are that it has never happened to you. Perhaps, you can take it as a plus.

Few, if any, care about these awards. When we enter a dealership, we might look at some of them on a shelf, but we don't use them as leverage for buying a car. 

So, why do "Car of the Year" awards exist? Well, once, not long ago, they made some sense. Now, it's a self-soothing practice that the automotive industry has created for itself and no one else.

When these awards come out, automotive journalists gather around and say, "Yes, we agree," or "No, they're crazy, and we're right. This is the car of the year, instead." 

Literally, it happens. Check out this article.

As far as the rest of the world goes, we don't care. Ironically, that hasn't stopped many automotive magazines from developing versions of the "Car of the Year" award.

That's where we get into the saturation territory, and awards become even more useless. 

Given the number of awards, do these awards actually impact sales? The answer is more challenging than yes or no. 

Car Of The Year awards (or COTY) are an industry in themselves, but first, how did they come about? Here's the fascinating history.

The first Car of the Year award

Most readers in the US associate the Car of the Year award with Motor Trend. This longstanding magazine helped define, well, motor trends in America.

The first award wasn't precisely a car, but it was, but it wasn't

The Cadillac overhead V8 was revolutionary, and it deserved its credit, but like all first efforts, it was not as elaborate or researched as it is now. 

In fact, not many people know this, but Motor Trend had only just begun. Cadillac's revolutionary came out into the market in 1949, and Motor Trend was born that same year. 

If you want to read more about this fascinating case, this article showcases some of the unusual things that happened. 

The magazine had come up with the idea of creating a car of the year award before even launching its third issue. Talk about visionary.

Plus, the magazine didn't create a committee or devise a series of tests to find the best car. Instead, it was one writer, and that was it. 

This journalist dictator nominated the cars, chose a winner, and wrote the piece. 

His name might not ring a bell, but he's a pillar in automotive journalism. The name was Bond, John Bond, and he'd go on to create the first-ever Road and Track.

According to Motor Trend magazine itself, Bond insisted he had been objective. The magazine says:

That's right. The first-ever Car Of The Year Award was a man's obsession with a V-8 engine.

But were there any competitors? Yes. Ford had come up with a ladder design and fully independent front suspension, but that wasn't enough.

Oldsmobile had also designed an overhead V8, but Bond considered it underpowered. That was about it.

Of course, there were other cars from other countries, but Motor Trend didn't include foreign vehicles. 

This would change in the future, but a trend had started back then, all because of one man's obsession with one engine.

Some of the weird winners

Motor Trend has consolidated its presence as one of the industry's go-to magazines.

At one point, they leveraged the COTY award to create even more presence, and, as with everything involving an award, it became increasingly complex as time went by, but not without its problems. 

Here’s the list of winners. 

In 1950, no COTY was handed out. The magazine struggled to make ends meet, and the award wasn't a priority.

Then, there's the fact that cars didn't win the awards; instead, companies did. It wasn't until 1958 that the Ford Thunderbird won.

This vehicle wasn't even a fan favorite in the Thunderbird community, and production had several challenges. Still, it was a commercial hit.   

Then, in 1960, something fascinating happened that would prove, even then, that such awards aren't necessarily great, at least not at the moment they're handed. 

The Chevrolet Corvair won the Car of the Year award. 

The Corvair had some commercial success, but how could it win the COTY and then, just years later, be considered a death trap?

Now, we know that Ralph Nader wasn't necessarily right, but this does highlight the fragility of handing out an award the moment the car enters the market. 

If you analyze the list of winners starting in 1966, when the list "stabilized" and only showcased models instead of companies, you will find some interesting results. 

From 1966 to 1970, there were very few surprises, but in 1971, the Chevrolet Vega won the award.

One year later, the Vega had earned a reputation for flawed quality and reliability. 

Then, in 1974, it was the Ford Mustang II, the successor to one of the most famous cars ever, and that didn't live up to the hype.

We included it on this list, precisely because of its performance.

As years passed, Motor Trend's COTY award showcased some odd winners. In 1982, the magazine awarded the Camaro Z28, a car with great handling but paltry power. 

Then, in the 90s, Motor Trend handed the award to the Ford Probe, another failed Mustang's successor.

Once again, in the 2000s, specifically in 2002, it handed the award to the Ford Thunderbird. The eleventh-generation Thunderbird lasted only three more years.  

(Though, you can still buy them, and with great reviews)

Granted, you can only predict that some cars will be a success, and it's not as though the COTY has not ended up in successful cars, such as the 2007 Toyota Camry and 2006 Honda Civic. 

But the 2001 Chrysler PT Cruiser has something to say. 

So, what are the criteria for defining these cars?

What are the criteria for the car of the year?

First, we must say that not all awards are created equal. After all, a quick recap finds these awards:

• World car of the Year

• European Car of the Year

• North American Car of the Year

• Two Australian awards

• One Canadian award

• One Chinese award

• Two german awards

• Top Gear's award

• Car and Driver 

• Motor Week 

• And Auto Express, just to name a few

It's fair to say that not all awards have the same criteria, but there shouldn't be much difference. Speaking of the OG award, the Motor Trend COTY, this is the criteria since 2014:

• The car has to have rolled out of production that year

• It was well-executed interior and exterior

• It provides engineering advancements

• Has low fuel consumption

• Has active safety and can help the driver avoid a crash

• Had competitive pricing (in fact, Motor Trend doesn't rate cars with an MSRP above $150,000

• And finally, the car performs according to the planned function

Then, it gets really confusing. 

Imported COTY awards existed from 1970, with the Porsche 914, up to 1999 with the Volkswagen New Beetle, but they decided to fuse them.

Ironically, the 1985 Volkswagen GTI won the domestic award because it was produced in the US, and the same went for the Renault Alliance, which was made in Wisconsin. 

The 1994 Honda Accord won the Foreign Car of the Year award, but it was produced domestically. 

Then there are the trucks.

The Truck of the Year award started in 1978 with a Van, not a truck, the Ford Econoline. Then, from 1981 to 1988, they didn't hand the award out, only to return in 1989 with a Toyota Pickup. 

Interestingly, the Truck of the Year award has almost no variety. 

Here’s how they spread out:

It gets even more confusing. In 1999, Motor Trend launched the SUV of the year award, and the Lexus RX300 won it, without a doubt. 

The truck winner in 1998: The Mercedes-Benz ML320. 

That's when the numbers come into play. 

Does winning the award do anything for sales?

There are some prominent best-sellers on the list. 

The 2004, 2009, 2012, and 2018 Ford F-150 models are among the best-selling vehicles in history. The Honda Accord won the award in 1994, when it ranked high in sales, as did the 2004 Toyota Prius and the 2007 Toyota Camry. 

But the 2018 Alfa Romeo Giulia wasn't a big commercial hit.

Neither was the Pt Cruiser nor the modern Ford Thunderbird we had mentioned before. 

Or the 1995 Chrysler Cirrus. 

The 10 best-selling vehicles in 2023 included the F-150, Silverado, Ram, RAV4, Tesla Model Y, Honda CR-V, GMC Sierra, Toyota Camry, Nissan Rogue, and Jeep Grand Cherokee. 

The COTY award? The Genesis G90. 

Rarely do we see the best-selling car win the COTY, and while commercial success isn't the entire point, it's a big part of it. 

After all, one award is almost pointless, especially in an age where public opinion travels faster. Even when it first began, the COTY wasn't all that coveted.

Cadillac didn't even want the award at first, though it now boasts about it.

But that's not to say that all awards are useless.

Magazines such as Kelley Blue Book, Consumer Reports, and JD Power hand out yearly awards that rely heavily on consumer feedback. That alone is priceless. 

Even these can get overwhelming. The 2024 KBB awards had more than 12 different awards, Consumer Reports had 10, and most magazines are the same. 

So, while the Motor Trend COTY award started as a man's obsession with a V8, it evolved into something marketable, sellable, and proud.

We relied on magazines to educated ourselves on vehicles for decades. That’s when the award had most of its traction.

Then, it lost its way. Too many categories and variables almost sacrificed its charm. Copycats arose, and the world was saturated. 

Awards won't cease to exist. In fact, others will most likely come. That's not to say that Four Wheel Trends will launch an award, or we could. 

But, its impact is still doubtful. I bet we wouldn't shift an entire market.

Whenever you're looking to buy a car, you might not consider whether it has won Motor Trend's Car Of The Year award, such as the 2024 winner, the Toyota Prius. 

That might not mean much. 

But, then, you compare it to the many other awards available. 

And you realize that it also won the Consumer Reports Car of the Year award. 

And Kelley Blue Book's award.

And Road and Track. 

Plus, it ranked 5th in iSeeCar's Top passenger cars most likely to last more than 250,000 miles. 

And that's where the value of an award lies. 

Not in one, but in many, in those that reflect reality.

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