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Chevy Bolt EV, Chrysler Pacifica, Honda Ridgeline take 2017 NACTOY prizes

Every year the 2017 North American International Auto Show kicks off with the North American Car of the Year Awards. We say "awards" after all those mentions of our home continent because it's not just cars. This year, in fact, the awards spread out to three separate honors: Car, Truck, and Utility. And without further ado, here are the winners. The 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV is the Car of the Year, the Honda Ridgeline is the Truck of the Year, and the Chrysler Pacifica is the Utility of the Year. Honda's win is perhaps the biggest surprise, upsetting favorite the Ford F Super Duty for the win. The second-generation Ridgeline rides on a unibody platform and is offered in front- or all-wheel-drive, which is unconventional for a pickup. But the layout also offers a cargo bed with an in-floor trunk and solid fuel economy figures of 19 city, 26 highway in its most-efficient form. The Chevy Bolt EV, however, was probably the easiest winner to predict. Its 238-mile range and sub-$30,000 starting price after tax credits make it a breakthrough in the landscape of electric vehicles. With the Chrysler Pacifica available in a plug-in hybrid form, this year's award illustrates the industry's shift towards efficiency and electrification. And with Ford's recent announcement on future EVs, it might not be long will it be until we see a hybrid truck on the award stage as well.Related Video:

2022 GMC Sierra Denali Ultimate vs. 2022 Ram 1500 Limited Longhorn vs. Ford F-150 Limited | Luxury truck interior face-off

GMC's new uber-expensive 2022 Sierra Denali Ultimate is the latest luxury truck to nudge toward six-figure territory. With demand for upmarket half-tons surging, GMC's otherwise-solid pickup found itself in desperate need of an interior remodel. For 2022, we're getting just that, and it appears ready to take the fight to the segment's best, including the 2022 Ram 1500 Limited and 2022 Ford F-150 Limited. Here's the new Denali Ultimate interior in all of its full-grain, open-pore glory. 2022 GMC Sierra 1500 Denali Ultimate vs. 2021 GMC Denali  Not only did the material quality and styling both improve greatly, but the new truck also gets a completely different shifter setup (truck buyers don't like column shifters anymore, apparently). It would actually be difficult to overstate the quality of the upgrade here; the photos really speak for themselves. It's also worth noting that in addition to looking significantly more upscale than the model it's succeeding, the new Denali interior also differs a bit more from its Chevy counterpart than its predecessor did. Here's the new Silverado High Country for reference: While some elements do carry over, the entire dash design is different, down to the positioning of the heating and cooling vents. While the main HVAC controls are essentially carried over, note that they're pretty much the only ones. Even the horizontal bar of switches running along the center stack is positioned differently between the two. Yep. This is a pretty big upgrade over the 2021 cabin, and clearly the range-topper in GM's truck hierarchy. But what of the competition? 2022 GMC Sierra 1500 Denali Ultimate vs. 2022 Ram Limited Longhorn Southfork This one's tough. We're going to have to spend time in them back to back, but the Ram Limited, with its various anniversary editions and other special permutations, is certainly the interior to beat. To our eyes, the Sierra's more horizontal layout is a bit more modern and perhaps luxurious-looking than the more upright cabin treatment of the Ram, but it's tough to say for certain from photos. Both the Denali Ultimate and Ram Limited carry their upscale feel into their back benches too, which is something we can't say quite as confidently about our next contestant.  2022 GMC Sierra 1500 Denali Ultimate vs. 2021 Ford F-150 Limited The Ford F-150 Limited holds its own, but it's probably the least photogenic of the models we've looked at here, at least apart from the outgoing Denali.

Chevy Volt gets customer satisfaction 'recall' for rear hatch issue *UPDATE*

Last week, General Motors has issued a "Customer Satisfaction program" for some 2011-2015 model year Chevrolet Volts to fix the manual rear lift gate not working as appropriate. According to Volt owner posts on Facebook, the problem manifests itself by the hatch not opening up all the way (sometimes worse in the cold) with some people bumping their heads. Dealers will replace the lift gate struts as part of the program. Some drivers were notified through the vehicle's OnStar system that there is a problem. GM has not yet said how many Volts are affected. *UPDATE* This program is for all 2011-2015 model year Volts. Chevrolet spokesperson Michelle Malcho told AutoblogGreen that, "This is not a recall, so there won't be any formal information posted on the GM website." The fixes will be free to affected Volt owners. Some 2010-2015 Cadillac SRX vehicles are also affected by the same problem and will also be fixed. Featured Gallery 2011 Chevrolet Volt: Review View 22 Photos News Source: General Motors via Transport Evolved Green Recalls Chevrolet Electric Hybrid customer satisfaction