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Ford Expedition Among 2026 North American Utility Vehicle Of The Year Candidates

The redesigned 2025 Ford Expedition launched earlier this year to tremendous fanfare and demand, and since then, it has set a few new personal sales records along the way. Turns out, consumers are big fans of the updated full-size SUV and all of the changes that it arrived with, and as such, it should come as a surprise to no one that the new Expedition will also likely be nominated for its fair share of accolades. The latest is becoming a candidate for 2026 North American Utility Vehicle of the Year, in fact.

The 2025 Ford Expedition does have quite a few other crossovers and SUVs to contend with this year – a list that also includes the Acura ADX, Audi Q5, Cadillac Escalade IQ, Cadillac OPTIQ, Cadillac VISTIQ, Genesis GV70, Honda Passport, Hyundai Ioniq 9, Hyundai Palisade, Jeep Cherokee, Lucid Gravity, Nissan Leaf, Polestar 4, Subaru Forester Hybrid, Toyota 4Runner, Toyota RAV4 Hybrid, Volkswagen Tiguan, and Volvo EX30.

A photo showing the exterior of the 2025 Ford Expedition from a side angle.

What makes the NACOTY awards unique is that they’re determined by an independent jury of automotive enthusiasts across the U.S. and Canada, rather than just a single publication, website, or other venue. In the coming months, those jurors will evaluate each of these vehicles in a variety of areas and come up with a list of semifinalists and finalists, after which winners will be chosen.

If the Ford Expedition does manage to progress through the 2026 North American Utility of the Year selection process, it would join the Ford Bronco, which was a finalist for the same accolade in 2022. Meanwhile, The Blue Oval also has two contenders vying for 2026 North American Truck of the Year – the sporty Ford F-150 Lobo and one of its lineup mates, the Ford Maverick Lobo. Back in 2021, the redesigned Ford F-150 won NACTOY, and the next year, it was joined by the then-new Ford Maverick. The new-for-2023  Ford Super Duty brought home that same prize in 2024, and just this past year, it was followed by the recently redesigned Ford Ranger, too.

Brett's lost track of all the Fords he's owned over the years and how much he's spent modifying them, but his current money pits include an S550 Mustang and 13th gen F-150.

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