MotorTrend has handed out its SUV of the Year award since the category separated from the truck honors, and the winners trace how the family utility vehicle has changed. Early picks favored car-based comfort, while later ones leaned into rugged heritage, luxury and electrification. Here are ten winners, spanning more than two decades, and the reason each one took the trophy.
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1. Lexus RX 300 (1999): The Original Winner
The 1999 Lexus RX 300 holds a place in the record books as the first winner of MotorTrend’s SUV of the Year, a title that split from Truck of the Year in 1999. Its selection marked the moment sport utility vehicles were judged as a category of their own.
That choice carried weight because the RX 300 was a comfort-focused, car-like crossover rather than a traditional truck-based design. Later winners on this list show how far the category has since stretched, from off-road icons to battery-powered luxury, and the Lexus remains the starting point.
2. Volvo XC90 (2003): Winning Twice
Volvo’s XC90 won MotorTrend SUV of the Year for 2003, and the redesigned model came back to claim the award again for 2016. It is the only nameplate to appear twice on this list.
For a buyer, the repeat result suggests the XC90 was rethought between generations rather than merely refreshed, since the 2016 trophy went to the redesigned vehicle. In both eras, Volvo’s large family SUV was judged against the best new competition of its year, which makes the pair of trophies a useful signal of sustained quality for anyone considering a used example.
3. Range Rover Evoque (2012): Small, Stylish, Victorious
The 2012 Range Rover Evoque won SUV of the Year over nine other contenders, among them the Ford Explorer and Dodge Durango, according to coverage of the award. It carried a price of $43,995 and a 2.0-liter turbo four.
A four-cylinder engine under the hood of a Range Rover pointed to a smaller, more compact approach for the brand. Beating mainstream rivals with that formula helps explain why the Evoque is remembered as a turning point for premium compact utility vehicles.
4. Jeep Wrangler (2019): Rugged Redesign
The redesigned Jeep Wrangler and Wrangler Unlimited took MotorTrend SUV of the Year for 2019, a win for a freshly reworked version of the long-running off-road icon.
Both the two-door Wrangler and the four-door Unlimited were named in the award, so the recognition covered the whole lineup rather than a single body style, so shoppers could consider either version with the same endorsement. For owners, it affirmed that the redesign kept the Wrangler’s go-anywhere character while moving the model forward.
5. Kia Telluride (2020): A Double Crown
The Kia Telluride won MotorTrend SUV of the Year together with World Car of the Year honors for 2020, a pairing highlighted in Kia’s brand heritage story. Collecting a national and a global award in the same year marked a high point for the Korean maker.
The double recognition helped establish the Telluride as a flagship for a brand once seen as an underdog. Shoppers weighing large three-row family SUVs saw its name backed by two separate sets of judges.
6. Land Rover Defender 110 (2021): Icon Reborn
The reborn Land Rover Defender 110 won MotorTrend SUV of the Year for 2021, rewarding the revival of a nameplate with deep off-road roots.
The 110 designation refers to the longer-wheelbase body, the practical, family-sized version of the Defender. The win showed that a heritage badge could be thoroughly modernized without losing its identity, a lesson other brands with revived names have watched closely, and one that gave the Defender instant credibility with buyers who knew the name only by reputation.
7. Genesis GV70 (2022): Luxury Newcomer
The Genesis GV70 earned 2022 SUV of the Year by beating 35 all-new or significantly redesigned SUVs, as the Genesis announcement explained. Standard equipment included a 14.5-inch touchscreen, and the cargo area measured 28.9 cubic feet behind the rear seats.
A field that large makes the result more meaningful than a win in a thin year, and a compact luxury model taking it showed how quickly Genesis had become a credible name. The big screen and generous cargo space tell shoppers the GV70 was judged on everyday usability as well as image.
8. Hyundai Ioniq 5 (2023): Electric Breakthrough
The Hyundai Ioniq 5 won 2023 SUV of the Year over 45 new or redesigned SUVs, 25 of them electrified, according to Hyundai’s newsroom. It offered over 300 miles of range and could charge from 10 to 80 percent in 18 minutes.
Fast charging is what separates electric ownership from a gasoline routine, since a short stop matters more than a large battery on a road trip. That the winner came from a field in which more than half the entries were electrified underlined how central battery models had become.
9. Chevrolet Blazer EV (2024): First Electric Blazer
The Chevrolet Blazer EV was named 2024 MotorTrend SUV of the Year, the first win for the electric Blazer, as General Motors reported.
Chevrolet applied the Blazer name, familiar from its gasoline utility vehicles, to an electric model. The award gave a mainstream badge a credential in a segment where electric choices were multiplying, and it signaled to shoppers that a volume brand could impress judges with a battery-powered SUV, which matters to shoppers cross-shopping electric models from established rivals.
10. Cadillac Escalade IQ (2026): Michigan Made Winner
The Cadillac Escalade IQ was named 2026 SUV of the Year, the first SUV assembled in Michigan to win, according to GM’s announcement. Cadillac estimates 465 miles of range.
A range estimate that high addresses a main concern about large electric SUVs, which carry heavy batteries and are often assumed to fall short on distance. The figure is Cadillac’s own estimate rather than an independent test result, so real-world numbers may differ with weather, speed and load, as they do for any electric vehicle.
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