- The Ford Mustang Mach-E was elected the utility vehicle of the year at the North American Cars, Trucks and Utility Vehicles Award of the Year 2021 on Monday.
- The victory suggests that Ford, relatively new to electric vehicles, could give Tesla a run for its money in the years to come.
- The Hyundai Elantra won the car of the year and the Ford F-150 was voted the best truck.
- Visit the Business Insider home page for more stories.
The Ford Mustang Mach-E won top honors at the 2021 North American Cars, Trucks and Utility Vehicles of the Year Award (NACTOY, for short) during a virtual event on Monday.
The Mach-E, Ford’s first electric vehicle, claimed the title of utility vehicle of the year, indicating that Tesla’s years of reign as undisputed leader in EVs may be coming to an end, and that legacy car makers like the Oval Blue may not be playing catch-up any longer.
The NACTOY awards are judged by a panel of 50 automotive journalists, who have reduced 43 eligible vehicles to three winners based on industry leadership, innovation, design, safety, handling, driver satisfaction and value. Hyundai Elantra won the car of the year, while the jury dubbed the Ford F-150 truck of the year.
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The winners won six other finalists: the Genesis G80, Nissan Sentra, Jeep Gladiator Mojave, Ram 1500 TRX, Genesis GV80 and Land Rover Defender.
But Mach-E not only impressed members of the media, it also impressed Wall Street analysts, who say Ford’s elegant electric crossover could mean bad news for Tesla investors.
A team of JPMorgan analysts recently toured Mach-E “and came out completely impressed”. While the new car is not necessarily better than the Tesla Model Y – its biggest competitor – it can help increase Ford’s market value, JPMorgan said in a note to customers.
Read More: The brain of the Ford electric car explains how its team made the Mustang Mach-E stand out from competitors like the Tesla
Analysts also said that an increase in the number of attractive electric options on the market could hurt Tesla’s valuation in three ways: by consuming its sales, decreasing demand from other automakers for Tesla’s Zero Emission Vehicle credits and casting questions about ” perceived the nature of Tesla’s vehicle paradigm shift and business model and, in turn, its unique assessment in the industry. “
Insider’s Car of the Year was also a non-Tesla EV. The Polestar 1 hybrid and the all-electric Polestar 2 won the Insider’s greatest automotive honor, while Porsche’s battery-powered super sedan, the Taycan, was second.