- Editors’ Choice list highlights top-ranked vehicles car and driver Publishers in each of the 37 segments.
- Of the nearly 400 models on the market, only 116 of the best cars, crossovers, SUVs, trucks, and EVs qualify for Editors’ Choice picks.
- Editors’ Choice winners completed a challenge that included instrumentation tests, road driving ratings, and an assessment of how well and worthwhile they accomplished their mission.
Are you dreaming of a new journey? Are you serious about buying one? Or do you just want to know which car is the best this year so you can continue to be the undisputed neighborhood car guru? Our Editors’ Picks list has what you need.
Think of the vehicles on this list as honors students in the automotive market. Of the nearly 400 models sold in the U.S. this year, 116 Editors’ Choice winners include the top sedans, trucks, crossovers, SUVs and electric vehicles in their respective segments.
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The criteria we use to select vehicles for our Editors’ Choice list begin with the results of our rigorous instrumentation tests and also include our subjective assessment of each vehicle’s performance in the real world; our assessment of the vehicle’s ability to perform its intended task; he its value; it’s a joy to drive; and the vehicle’s rank relative to its competitors in its segment. Only vehicles on sale in 2022 and vehicles with hands-on driving experience by employees are eligible. For obvious reasons, vehicles earning a spot on our 2022 Top 10 list—all graduating with honors—are automatically selected for Editors’ Choice.
37 segments include new EV categories
We’re also refining the categories that make up Editors’ Choices to reflect the proliferation of electric vehicles in size, price, and features. So we’ve added five new segments specifically for them: electric vehicles, electric crossovers and SUVs, electric pickup trucks, electric luxury vehicles, and electric luxury crossovers and SUVs. You will find the best in the list.
This brings the total number of segments from which we extracted vehicles for Editors’ Choice to 37. For the record, we’ve intentionally excluded several very expensive segments — those that include cars like Rolls-Royce, Lamborghini, and McLaren — from our Editors’ Choices. consider. These cars are best known for that kind of money. Here’s the shopping list for the rest of us.
The good news is that today in traditional parts of the market, buyers have plenty of options. Some segments, including SUVs and midsize luxury crossovers, have as many as 30 entries. If you don’t want to go through a collection of conga cars to find the top performers, use the Editors’ Picks list as a bulletin board to narrow down your choices. This will take you directly to the head of each class.