In 2011, it was the minivan segment that reinvented itself. In 2012, crossovers and SUVs witnessed big turnover and a slew of new products. Now in the 2013 model year, the family sedan is witness to at least four new models, almost every one a better vehicle than the mega-seller than preceded it...Read More»
If there's been some kind of communique planning out the obsolescence of V-6 engines in mid-size sedans, Honda must have missed the memo. With the Hyundai Sonata and Kia Optima already two years into an all-four-cylinder engine lineup, and for 2013 the Chevrolet Malibu and Ford Fusion both...Read More»
If you're looking around with a puzzled expression, missing the Hyundai Veracruz crossover something fierce, you're not alone. But you are very, very close to it. The Veracruz made so few friends in its brief stay on the U.S. market, it probably pleased fewer shoppers than it irked--like those...Read More»
With the 2013 Lexus LS, Toyota's luxury brand has something to solve. The perennial dogfight between BMW and Mercedes-Benz at the very top of their model ranges all but blots out most other competitors. Even Audi's A8 has difficulty gaining breathing room between the S-Class and the 7-Series;...Read More»
Subaru has, for years, pretty much owned the market for basic, mass-market small cars with all-wheel drive. Looking back, while other automakers have brought out crossovers, minivans, and larger sedans and wagons with all-wheel drive, mainstream AWD offerings that are genuine passenger cars (or...Read More»
Earlier this year, Subaru said its 2013 Outback would be getting some upgrades--a tweak here, a tuck there, a new engine and some dandy new safety features. You'd have thought someone was spreading rumors that the official transportation of drum circles and Lilith Fairs everywhere was turning into...Read More»
The A4 is Audi's powerhouse--not just because of its 333-horsepower S4 edition, but even more so, because of what it brings to the brand. Almost 50 percent of Audi's U.S. sales are its "B-segment" cars, including the A4, the S4, previous Avants and the new Allroad wagon. Case in point: over the...Read More»
Back in the mid-1990s, when Mercedes decided to build a factory in America, and an M-Class to take on Ford's Explorer and Jeep's Grand Cherokee, the idea of also taking on the big GM and Ford SUVs one day seemed even more far-fetched. Today, the reality is a little more square. The M-Class isn't so...Read More»
It didn’t take us a journey halfway across the Pacific Ocean to understand that Subaru—and the new 2013 XV Crosstrek, or just ‘Crosstrek,’ as Subaru of America would rather call it (the XV already stands for ‘crossover vehicle’)—is for active, outdoorsy...Read More»
If you're looking for an A4 Avant station wagon as you troll the local Audi dealer this coming model year, you'll be out of luck. Rather than stock the good-looking wagon, Audi's crossed over, reaching back into its bag of nameplates to come up with the Allroad. You might remember the last car to...Read More»
Hyundai's Elantra has been a huge success, missing just a model or two to complete the usual compact-car trifecta. A hot seller and an award winner--the North American Car of the Year for 2012--the latest Elantra seems to have caught the Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla completely off guard...Read More»
It sells more vehicles than Buick and Cadillac combined. Its Denali sub-brand sold more vehicles in May than all of Jaguar and Land Rover did in the U.S. Still, some call the GMC brand the company's red-headed stepchild--and not only because of its plain red logo. GMC may get less attention when it...Read More»
For years, the Lexus ES has been a great luxury sedan for impressing the clients. It's been conservatively dressed; plush, premium, quiet, and comfortable inside—yet never ostentatious. And it's worn that Lexus badge more as a symbol of smart, on-a-budget luxury than flamboyance. Those things...Read More»
It's been twenty years since Nissan decided the old Stanza nameplate had had enough, and brought out the Altima as its new standard-bearer in the mid-size family-sedan segment. What a difference those decades make: not only has the Altima swelled in size along with the other four-doors in its...Read More»
It's an unusual day--or maybe a coming of age--when our editors look forward so eagerly to a new diesel-powered vehicle. Don't judge. In this case, it's not just any diesel, and it doesn't just go into any vehicle. It's a Mercedes turbodiesel, and it slips neatly into a sport-ute that not only...Read More»
If you want a new Jetta sedan, skip the thirsty, coarse five-cylinder base engine. Heck, we're even tempted to tell you to go ahead and skip what's long been our favorite, the turbo-diesel TDI. That's because for about the same price as the TDI you can have what feels like a much more sophisticated...Read More»
The single most important thing about the 2013 Dodge Dart is that it proves Chrysler is still in the game. The new Dart compact sedan may not leapfrog every other compact on the market to set lofty new heights of excellence. But it's stylish, fun to drive, offers some pioneering features for the...Read More»
When you think "Ford," you probably think of several brands--F-150, Explorer, Mustang, Taurus. Shame on you if that list is missing the Ford Escape. Last year, Ford sold more than 250,000 copies of its compact crossover, capping an eleven-year run on sale with the ute's best year ever, and with...Read More»
Forget for a few minutes about your urge to make the absolute smartest fiscal choice. Yes, the economics of diesel ownership often take many, many years to work out as positive. Yes, diesels, as in the 2013 Volkswagen Beetle TDI, do generally cost thousands more initially; and yes, diesel fuel...Read More»
