Seven Alabama-built vehicles are on the Car and Driver 2022 Editor’s Choice Awards list, including all the vehicles being built at the Hyundai plant in Montgomery.
Hyundai has four Alabama-built vehicles on the list while Honda has three. Mercedes-Benz, which has nine vehicles on the list, did not have any that are assembled at Mercedes-Benz U.S. International in Tuscaloosa County.
Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama’s (HMMA) Tucson (compact SUV), Hyundai Santa Fe (mid-size SUV), Hyundai Santa Cruz (compact pickup truck) and Elantra N (sport compact car) all made the list.
The Hyundai Sonata (family sedan) also made the list. Up until this month, the Sonata had been produced in Alabama. In fact, the Sonata was the flagship model at the HMMA. Production of the Sonata started in Montgomery in May 2005 and the plant produced more than 2.5 million there for the U.S. and Canada markets. The Sonata is now being produced at Hyundai’s Asan plant in Korea, allowing for increased production of the Santa Fe, Tucson and Santa Cruz in Alabama.
“Having four Alabama-built Hyundai vehicles recognized by Car and Driver Editor’s Choice Awards is a strong endorsement of Hyundai’s ability to connect with the automotive buyer,” said Robert Burns, vice president of Human Resources and Administration at HMMA. “Our team members can be proud knowing they contributed by assembling these vehicles with safety and quality at the forefront.”
Hyundai had a total of 11 vehicles on the list, tying BMW with the most.
“We are greatly honored to tie for the most Car and Driver 2022 Editors’ Choice awards with 11 models,” said Ricky Lao, director, product planning, Hyundai Motor North America. “These 11 models together represent a majority of our lineup and nearly every market segment, and we are pleased that Car and Driver recognizes so many of our models for their collective excellence.”
Honda Manufacturing of Alabama had the Passport (mid-size SUV), Ridgeline (mid-size pickup truck) and Odyssey (minivan) make the list, as did four other Honda models.
Mazda and Toyota, which now operate the Mazda Toyota Manufacturing joint assembly plant in Huntsville, had five and four vehicles on the list, respectively.
Car and Driver assessed nearly 400 vehicles to come up with the 116 on its Editor’s Choice Awards list.
“All of the vehicles listed here have excelled in our testing and impressed us on the road. Each one fulfills its intended mission superbly and delivers great value at its price point,” the publication said on its website.