AutoGuide.com 2016 Utility Vehicle of the Year Award

Crossovers are continuing to gain in popularity, replacing the mid-size sedan and minivan as the family vehicle of choice.

This is making the AutoGuide.com utility vehicle of the year award arguably just as important as the Car of the Year Award. With improved efficiency, practicality and ease of use, it’s no wonder crossovers are so popular.

ALSO SEE: Honda Civic Wins the AutoGuide.com 2016 Car of the Year Award

As is the case with all our yearly awards, we’ve gathered the best new vehicles from each major segment of the market – subcompact, compact, mid-size and luxury. All four of these vehicles made a big impact when they were introduced and put their competitors on notice. Here are the four nominees.

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

Nominee: 2016 Honda HR-V

Previous ImageNext Image

PreviousNext

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

View Large

When it comes to luxury crossovers, no other vehicle this year has made as much of an impact as the Volvo XC90. The XC90 has been transformed from has-been to front runner. First there’s the styling. The exterior is gorgeous and the interior looks like nothing else on the market – which is just as refreshing as it is elegant.

Some of the controls take a while to get used to because Volvo has decided not to follow what every other manufacturer is doing and instead went their own way, which, in many ways, is  much better.

SEE ALSO: 2016 Volvo XC90 Review

But it’s the mechanics that are the real story here. While other luxury brands are sticking with big V6 engines or smaller turbo six-pots, Volvo is making the same amount of power using a supercharger and a turbocharger strapped to a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine. And you know what? It works.

The transition from supercharger to turbocharger is seamless and this engine feels every bit as powerful as its 316 hp state. Want more power? Volvo isn’t going with a traditional V8, but instead sticking with the twin-charged four-cylinder engine and adding a few electric motors to make V8-like power.

And The Winner Is…

So what’s the best of the year? What made the biggest impact? Well, let’s recap what each nominee brought to the table in 2016.

The Pilot and the Tucson are massive improvements over the outgoing models, but aren’t exactly revolutions. The HR-V has set the standard for subcompact crossovers, but again, just stuck to good old ingenuity and fundamental engineering to achieve this.

It’s the Volvo XC90 that really is making the world stand up and take notice. New technology abounds in this crossover but more importantly, it works. It might be the most expensive vehicle here, but compared to its competitors, it’s still cheaper. Oh, and like any Volvo throughout history, it’s loaded with safety technology.

The AutoGuide.com 2016 Utility of the Year Award winner is the Volvo XC90.