As we predicted after poking around the Volvo XC90 last year, everyone’s favorite Swede was destined for a good year. After picking up the Motor Trend Truck of the Year calipers no one on this staff was surprised the XC also claimed North American Truck/Utility of the Year honors. It’s beautiful outside and in, plus it is packed with technology like semi-autonomous lane keeping, a supercharged and turbocharged engine with an available plug-in hybrid option and an easy-to-learn central infotainment system called Sensus.
For 2017 the Buick LaCrosse enters into its third generation. The new car adopts much of last year’s Avenir show car including a grille which suspends the now colorized tri-shield logo. The red, white, and blue colors have played well in China where the American origins are appreciated. Here’s a fun fact, that tri-shield logo was introduced in 1959 and each shield represented each all-new model name in Buick’s portfolio: LeSabre, Invicta, and Electra. In today’s Buick hierarchy, the LaCrosse would take the role of the Electra as the largest and most expensive sedan Buick offers with the Regal and Verano slotting in below. The new body features sweeping lines, a longish rear overhang, and a six window greenhouse. The interior is outfitted with the expected high quality materials as a well as a very BMW-like automatic shift lever in the suspended center console. The LaCrosse has the expected assortment of technology, including 4G LTe Wi-Fi, automatic parking assist, 8-inch touch screen with Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, Navigation, and QuietTuning technology that blocks and absorbs outside noise. All this technology is escorted down the interstate by means of an all-new 3.6L V6 and an optional Twin-Clutch all-wheel drive system. The LaCrosse will be available this summer.
Though Cadillac revealed the new CT6 sedan months ago in New York, we finally got a chance to get up close and personal with GM’s most luxurious sedan. Just as Cadillac executives insisted that the XTS was not the brands flagship they are claiming that this full size, rear wheel drive sedan shouldn’t bear that responsibility either. While this gives us hope for a car as stunning as the Cadillac Elmiraj concept, there is still much to appreciate about the CT6. Available with a 2.0L turbo, 3.6L V6, or 3.0L twin turbo V6, the CT6 eschews traditional V8 motivation in stark contrast to the last full size rear wheel drive Cadillac, the 1996 Fleetwood. We should insert an asterisk here and clarify that only the 2.0L turbo can be combined with RWD. The V6 models come standard with all-wheel-drive. The interior is outfitted with premium materials, rich colors, and enough rear seat room to simultaneously satisfy all but the very tallest of occupants. With a base price of $54,490 it seems that Cadillac is taking the time honored practice of dramatically undercutting the competition’s price to lure them into the showroom. The base CT6 is priced so low it makes one wonder if it will steal sales from the smaller CTS. While the CT6 has been criticized for being too similar to the CTS and ATS in appearance, we are reminded that this is the same approach used at Mercedes-Benz, Audi, and BMW so GM’s luxury brand is at worst imitating industry leaders.
As enthusiasts, we love to complain about the cars that manufacturers offer in foreign markets but withhold from us in the United States. One body style that has a tendency to be offered in Europe and Asia but seldom here is the hatchback. Chevrolet has humored us and decided to offer its fully redesigned Cruze as a sedan and hatchback in the land of the free. The Cruze hatchback promises the added versatility and utility that is normally restricted on a conventional sedan. Indeed, the Cruze hatch offers 47.2 cubic feet of cargo space with the rear seats folded down. Like the 2016 sedan, the hatch offers a standard 1.4L turbo 4-cylinder as well as support for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. We anticipate powertrains and options to largely mirror those of the sedan. We expect to see the Cruze hatchback on sale next to its sedan sibling in the fall. Now, if we could just convince Chevy to offer a Cruze wagon…
Audi is wasting no time building out its bread-and-butter A4 lineup with the sedan and a new allroad debuting at the North American International Auto Show. Both models use a 2.0-liter turbo with 252 hp and a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission. You can still get an A4 with front-wheel drive but almost no one does, which is probably the same reason the 6-speed manual is no longer available on base cars. The allroad makes Quattro all-wheel drive standard and also raises the ride height 1.3 inches. That makes light offroading somewhat easier and the cladding along the lower body seems to be a hit with customers so it carries over from previous allroad generations. The A4 features just about all the tech and luxury features you can get on the high-end Audi’s, including a 19-speaker Bang & Olufsen 3D stereo, the latest and greatest Virtual Cockpit, full color head up display and the list goes on and on. With prices starting at $38k and heading quickly up from there we should probably be glad that the A3 has entered the lineup where the A4 used to reside and helped make Audi ownership a little more attainable.
GMC’s Acadia has been around for ages. To say that the Acadia hasn’t been redesigned since its introduction as a 2007 model (count it, that is a full 10 model years ago) isn’t entirely true. As a mid-cycle update it adopted the body shell from the orphaned Saturn Outlook in 2013. There have been products that have lingered for longer than the Acadia, but not many, and those tend to be legacy fleet models not core products. Even so, GMC claims that 2015 was Acadias best-selling year. So how to follow up on the success of such a vehicle? GMC executives claim that the 2017 Acadia is repositioned to match the way most Acadia customers use their vehicle. The Acadia has been shrunk, losing one seating position and a staggering 700 lbs! Maximum seating is now seven, rather than eight, when equipped with the now optional third seat. The new Acadia seems to be more of a successor to the long discontinued Envoy SUV rather than a more fashionable alternative to a minivan. Denail remains the top offering and an All Terrain trim is added above the familiar SLT. One unique safety feature GMC has developed is a rear seat reminder that intends to help driver’s check to make sure they haven’t accidentally left a child unattended in a locked vehicle. For the first time, a 4-cyldiner is the standard engine and is mated to a 6-speed automatic. This configuration on front wheel drive models achieves 28 mpg highway and 22 mpg in the city due to start/stop technology. An optional 310 horsepower V6 is also available. Expect to see the all-new Acadia on streets in spring 2016.
In the late 1990s when Ford embarked on ambitious plans to dominate the premium market segment, it aligned its purchased foreign brands Aston Martin, Jaguar, Land Rover, and Volvo together in its “Premier Automotive Group.” That apparently left resources spread too thin and Lincoln was left to let the Town Car soldier on, the LS with no successor, and the Continental to vanish into history. Lack of a clear vision in the years after the PAG was sold off to keep the Blue Oval afloat meant Lincoln was positioned more like the orphaned Mercury brand as merely premium Fords. Lincoln is attempting to correct a couple of those missteps with the re-introduction of the Continental as its top model offering. Lincoln executives are promoting this new Lincoln as being focused on premium luxury rather than a performance car. Indeed, sybaritic comfort is something that even Cadillac has chosen to make secondary to performance and handling. The Continental certainly looks the part and the interior is no exception. Lincoln promises a 3.0L V6 with an anticipated 400 hp applied to the pavement through all four wheels. That V6 is mounted transversely so those expecting a Continental in the configuration of your grandfather’s Town Car will be disappointed. It likely won’t matter: the interior appears extremely commodious. The exterior champions Lincoln’s abandonment of the split winged grille that, though distinctive, was largely criticized. A horseshoe shaped grille with a prominent Lincoln logo sets the direction as the brand’s new trademark. The curious winged door handles from last year’s Continental concept have arrived in tact. Though details are mostly scarce right now, we expect a host of safety and infotainment features already offered throughout Ford’s product offerings. Expect the Continental to hit the road in late 2016.
Once upon a time Volvos were known as cars that looked like a loaf of bread or, worse yet, a refrigerator. That stigma began to erode when the original S90 sedan, which had clearly been styled exclusively with a t-square, was replaced with the wind sculpted S80 sedan in 1999. The once stodgy brand known also as a leader in safety innovations began to transform while under Ford’s ownership into a fashionable Swedish brand in such a way that comparisons to IKEA were inevitable. Having been sold off to the Chinese automaker, Geely, in 2009, Volvo has recently been under yet another transformation. For 2017 the S90 sedan returns and is nothing short of a stunning executive class car. The exterior features the shouldered fenders inspired by the original S80 sedan and a grille and hood shape reminiscent of the legendary P1800 sports coupe from the 1960s. The interior sports very natural materials (the finish on the woodgrain makes you want to reach out and run your fingers over the surface) and rich hues in the same vein as the also excellent XC90 crossover. The S90 is offered with either a T6 supercharged and turbocharged 2.0L 4-cylinder or a T8 Twin Engine (deceptively also a 4-cylinder) plug-in hybrid powertrain that delivers up to 410 horsepower. The S90 also makes available a large animal detection system that offers a warning and brake support. This isn’t surprising coming from a company originating from a country where moose collisions are considered a normal driving hazard. With as good as this car looks, we can’t wait to see the much rumored wagon version of this car.
For many years, BMW could be counted on to provide cars that satisfy the enthusiast itch. Frequently offered with manual transmissions, silky smooth inline 6 engines and perpetually with rear wheel drive it was hardly arrogant for BMW’s tagline to make the claim of being the ‘Ultimate Driving Machine.’ Unfortunately, the truthfulness of BMW’s slogan has been taken into question with ever heavier (but fast) SUV’s, less driver focus on the 3-series, and finally (horror of horrors) the front wheel drive based 2 Series Active Tourer. So the official unveiling today of the M2 had to be a relief for the BMW faithful. The M2 does the M badge proud by offering a manual transmission with 365 horsepower and 343 lb-ft of torque produced from that ever lovable 3.0-liter Inline 6. The M2 is capable of reaching 60 mph in 4.1 seconds when optioned with the 7-speed DCT. BMW claims under an under 8 minute lap time at the famed Nurburgring. All this driving purity comes at a cost: the M2 starts at $51,700.
Today Mercedes completes its sedan refresh that started with the S-Class, focused on the smaller C-Class last year and finally makes its way the middle child E-Class at this year’s North American International Auto Show. The family resemblance is crystal clear outside and in with the same quality materials and artful design embellishments that debuted on the S 550 finding a home in the E-Class cabin. That means there is a giant 12.3″ high-resolution screen in the center of the dash and potentially two of them side by side on certain trim levels. Mercedes is particularly proud with the seat design and the news touch pad controls on the steering wheel that let you swipe up and down, left and right to control certain infotainment functions. A 9-speed automatic handles shifting duties in the E300 that hits dealers first in the US market. These cars are powered by a 241 hp 2.0-liter turbo, although the lineup will rapidly expand all the way up to a new hooligan-approved E63 AMG model.
