MotorTrend’s Truck of the Year award has gone to compact pickups, electric newcomers and heavy-duty workhorses alike over the years. The winners span several brands, and one nameplate has collected the trophy three times. Here are nine pickups that earned the title, starting with the most recent.
Free daily tech email: Get Techpresso, the free daily email with the most interesting tech news and insights, read by 400,000+ professionals from Google, Apple and OpenAI.
We may earn a commission if you sign up.
1. Ford Maverick: Small Truck, Big Sales
The compact Maverick was named MotorTrend’s 2026 Truck of the Year, and the judges cited its value, segment-leading fuel efficiency and nearly half a million sales. Those three reasons explain why a small pickup beat the field.
Few awards go to the smallest truck in a lineup, so the result signals how much buyer appetite exists for an affordable, efficient pickup. Shoppers who do not need full-size towing capability can read the win as a vote for sensible sizing. It also reflects a market in which price and mileage matter alongside capability.
2. Chevrolet Colorado: Third Time Is the Charm
Chevrolet’s redesigned Colorado won MotorTrend’s 2024 Truck of the Year over 13 other models, per the award announcement. It was the nameplate’s third win, following 2015 and 2016, and the judges singled out the ZR2.
A three-time champion gives the midsize Colorado the strongest award record on this list. The ZR2 mention shows that the off-road trim drew attention as much as the standard truck did. Buyers comparing midsize pickups can treat the repeated wins, spread across a decade, as evidence of a consistently well-regarded design.
3. Ford F-150 Lightning: Unanimous Electric Pick
The electric F-150 Lightning earned the 2023 title by a unanimous vote of seven judges. MotorTrend’s reasoning included 775 pound-feet of torque, a figure available even in the base Pro trim.
Torque at that level on the entry trim means the performance is not reserved for the expensive versions. For owners of work trucks, the point is that an electric F-150 does not demand a trim upgrade to deliver strong pulling force. The unanimous result also shows how convincingly the Ford impressed the entire seven-person panel.
4. Rivian R1T: First Electric Champion
Rivian’s R1T won MotorTrend’s Truck of the Year the year before the F-150 Lightning, as the award history shows. That sequence made the Ford the second electric pickup in a row to take the title.
Back-to-back electric winners mark a shift in what the judges considered the best truck on sale. The R1T opened the door, and the Lightning confirmed the trend with the very next award. Anyone tracking the pickup market can see how quickly electric models moved from curiosity to genuine contender, with the two wins arriving in consecutive years.
5. Ram 1500: Ram’s Recurring Winner
The Ram 1500 won MotorTrend’s Truck of the Year in 2013 and again in 2019. Mopar Insiders reports those were part of six Ram brand wins since 2009.
Repeat wins six years apart suggest that the full-size Ram stayed competitive across different model cycles rather than resting on one good generation. The brand-wide tally of six also puts Ram among the most decorated names in the award. For buyers, the record is a reasonable talking point when comparing the 1500 against its full-size rivals, since the wins came in two separate years.
6. Ram 2500/3500 Heavy Duty: A Decade Apart
Ram’s 2500/3500 Heavy Duty pickups took the award twice, in 2010 and again in 2020, according to the Ram heavy-duty history. A full ten years separated the two victories.
Heavy-duty trucks rarely share the spotlight with half-ton models, so two wins stand out. Owners who tow or haul for a living can take the pattern as recognition that the segment is judged on its own merits. Together with the Ram 1500 victories, the Heavy Duty wins add to the brand’s strong record in the competition.
7. Toyota Tundra: Toyota Beats Detroit
The Tundra was named MotorTrend’s 2008 Truck of the Year over GM and Ford heavy-duty pickups, as the magazine’s coverage recorded. The editor said it can compete with any American-made pickup truck.
That statement carried weight in a segment long associated with Detroit. The win gave the Tundra credibility with shoppers who might have assumed a Toyota could not match the domestic brands head to head. It remains a notable example of the award going against the usual expectations, and of the editor putting that view in plain words.
8. Chevrolet Silverado: Silverado’s Earlier Win
The Chevrolet Silverado won MotorTrend’s Truck of the Year a year before the 2008 Tundra, and its Heavy Duty version was among the finalists the Toyota beat. The Silverado name therefore appears on both sides of that handoff.
The sequence shows how quickly the leaderboard can change from one year to the next. A Silverado win followed by a Tundra win meant the top spot passed from a Chevrolet to a Toyota in a single cycle. Silverado shoppers can note the title as one more entry in the truck’s long record of recognition.
9. Honda Ridgeline: The Trunk in the Bed
Motor Trend named the Honda Ridgeline its 2006 Truck of the Year, citing an 8.5-cubic-foot trunk under the bed. Edmunds lists the price at a starting figure of $27,700.
Storage beneath the cargo bed was the kind of practical idea that set the Ridgeline apart from conventional pickups. Buyers who value everyday usability over towing numbers may find that feature more relevant than horsepower. The 2006 award shows the judges rewarding clever packaging as well as raw capability, at a price that stayed under $28,000.
More from Morning Overview
- Seven of Earth’s nine planetary boundaries are breached, and all seven are worsening
- The NSA says three phone features should be off whenever you aren’t using them
- Hurricane Hunter radar shows four warning signs that a tropical cyclone is about to strengthen, a University of Miami study found
- Tropical Storm Rachel is dumping up to 12 inches on four Mexican states on its way to major hurricane strength
