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Preproduction Slate Truck Faces $103K Ram TRX in NACTOY Best of 2027 Contenders
The North American Car, Truck and Utility Vehicle of the Year organisation has named 25 contenders for its Best of 2027 awards, including the not-yet-deliverable Slate Truck alongside the $103,000 Ram 1500 SRT TRX, while no American brand appears on the passenger-car shortlist.
By Edward Beaumont · 5 min read
The North American Car, Truck and Utility Vehicle of the Year organisation has unveiled its Best of 2027 contenders, a list of 25 vehicles drawn from an initial field of 56 that includes a preproduction electric pickup customers cannot yet buy and a supercharged halo truck costing more than $100,000 in the same category.
The truck shortlist comprises the Chevrolet Silverado, GMC Sierra, Ram 1500 SRT TRX and Slate Truck. The Slate remains officially in preproduction, although some journalists have driven or ridden in prototypes. The TRX, by contrast, is a 777-horsepower supercharged machine priced above $103,000 — a spectacularly excessive toy that few buyers need and even fewer can afford. Both are now candidates for the same Truck of the Year title.
The passenger-car category is nearly as peculiar. It contains the Audi A6, Hyundai Ioniq 6 N, Kia K4 Hatchback, Lexus ES and Mercedes-Benz CLA 220 Hybrid. Not one comes from an American brand. While «North American» describes the market rather than the nationality of the automaker, the absence of any domestic marque is a strange look for an award announced out of Detroit.
Things get murkier still in the utility category. The Audi Q9 and Kia EV3 both made the cut despite neither having reached American customers. The EV3 has at least been driven overseas and is due to launch in the United States late this year, with prices starting at $29,890 before destination charges. The Q9 was only unveiled in July, and Audi says deliveries will not begin until the fourth quarter.
NACTOY has not declared any of these vehicles finalists, much less winners. The organisation intends to invite all 25 vehicles to its comparison event on 20–22 October, but has not confirmed that every contender — including the preproduction Slate, the Audi Q9 and the US-spec Kia EV3 — will actually be available for jurors to drive.
That explains the process, but it does not make the «Best of 2027» branding any less absurd. If the jurors still need their big comparative drive, this is not yet a list of the best vehicles. It is a list of the vehicles they hope might be.
The truck category offers the clearest illustration of the gap between the award's title and its current state. The Slate is a bare-bones electric pickup that customers still cannot take delivery of, yet it is being evaluated alongside a 580 kW supercharged Ram that represents the opposite end of the market in price, power and purpose. One is a promise of affordable electric utility; the other is a six-figure statement of excess. Placing them in direct competition for a single honour raises questions about what the award is actually measuring at this stage of the season.
NACTOY's process is designed to culminate in that October comparison event, where jurors are meant to assess the contenders side by side. Until then, the list functions more as an upcoming-product directory than an evaluation of the year's best vehicles. Several contenders have not reached customers, and some have not undergone comparative testing. The organisation has been transparent about the next step, but the branding has run ahead of the evidence.
The passenger-car shortlist reinforces the impression. Five models, none American, will contest a title announced from the heart of the US motor industry. The utility category adds two more vehicles that American buyers cannot yet purchase. Taken together, the 25-strong field mixes sensible choices with entries that look like placeholders for vehicles still to come.
For now, the Slate and the TRX sit in the same bracket, one an electric pickup in preproduction and the other a supercharged halo truck beyond the reach of most buyers. Whether jurors will be able to drive both in October remains unconfirmed. Until they do, the Best of 2027 label describes an intention rather than a verdict.
