One of the most anticipated industry awards is the annual North American Car and Truck of the Year awards. The title is highly coveted by automakers due in no small part to the proprietary nature of the voting by 50 journalists from the United States and Canada. The Hyundai Elantra beat out the Ford Focus and Volkswagen Passat to take the 2012 award even though your humble editors had publicly predicted a Passat victory. Though photos and video of the 2011 Elantra were mistakenly displayed as a Hyundai executive accepted the award, make no mistake that the 2012 Elantra is a car that appears to be deserving of the accolades. Read more…
Normally we’d be asking for sympathy as we setup residence in the winter wonderland of Detroit to cover the North American International Auto Show, but truth be told the temperatures this year are mild and there isn’t a snowflake to be found. But even if a blizzard descended there’s no place we’d rather be since the annual kick-off to auto show season always delivers the stunning concepts and fresh production debuts we crave. We’re expecting a good show this year as the automakers close the books on a resurgent 2011 and look forward to a growing market this year. Tomorrow we’ll be onsite bringing you all the pictures, news and video you’ve come to expect from us, but for tonight here’s a preview of what’s to come. Read more…
While we have always regarded the GM large crossovers as great vehicles, the fact of the matter is their class-leading days are firmly in the rear view mirror. Editor Dye discusses this while driving the most premium of the GMC grade, the Acadia Denali. It is still a great vehicle, but at the end of the day this crossover was designed in an era of hard interior plastics and, like many Americans, needs to lose a few pounds. Read more…
Stand by because the heroes of automotive banter are back in front of the video camera. In our season premiere we cover GM’s hotly anticipated new vehicle of the century: the Chevrolet Volt. We would be remiss to give it all away here, but in a nut shell, the boys are smitten. Read more…
The “Perfect Size” Crossover Wants Its Sales Crown Back
Of all the vehicles in need of a redesign Honda’s CR-V isn’t one of them. The current generation of the entry-level crossover went on sale as a 2007 model and won the sales crown for its class every year through 2010, averaging about 200,000 sales per year. The streak would most likely be in place this year had Mother Nature not put on a shocking show of force first with the earthquake in Japan and then devastating floods in Thailand. Honda says it has lost more than 200,000 units of production for the U.S., including significant shortages of the ever-popular CR-V, which spelled an end to the little crossover’s sales reign. But despite the vehicle’s continued popularity anyone who knows Honda knows they plan five year lifecycles for their vehicles, which means we should see an all-new CR-V for 2012. And despite the aforementioned significant supplier and R&D interruptions, come December 15th, we will. After a day spent with the Honda team learning everything there is to know about the new CR-V one thing is clear: they want their sales crown back. Read more…
Proof That The Midsize Sedan Segment Is More Competitive Than Ever
We’re not sure why, but when we think of the midsize sedan segment our minds tend to picture the Toyota Camry or Honda Accord, or maybe even the Ford Fusion or Chevrolet Malibu. For some reason we don’t immediately remember the Nissan Altima. We’d blame marketing except dealers managed to push almost 230,000 of them into American driveways last year making it the third best selling midsizer behind the Camry and Accord. Maybe we should blame ourselves. The press seems content to watch Toyota and Honda duke it out for first and occasionally devote a few words to how the domestic competition is stacking up against—you guessed it—the Camry and Accord. But Nissan has nothing to be ashamed of, as our week in an Altima 2.5 S proved. Read more…
The good news about the new Acura TL is that it’s a nicer version of the Honda Accord. The bad news? It’s a nicer version of the Honda Accord. That’s the contradiction of the TL, which has been refreshed — and made a lot prettier — for the 2012 model year. It takes a fantastic, fun, ultra-reliable Accord and spiffs it up for the luxury market, packing it full of cool gadgets and adding sound-deadening materials to make it quiet on the highway. Read more…
I met the newest member of the Prius family today. And I did so a mere five miles from where I welcomed a little bundle of joy to my family 15 months ago in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Fitting, then, that this should be the family-oriented relative of the Green Movement’s poster child. Fortunately for me, the v was all cleaned up and ready to drive without a dirty diaper in sight. Read more…
Once upon a time, Volkswagen was known for selling simple and inexpensive cars. The unconventional simplicity of the automaker’s designs carried over into the brand’s straightforward nomenclature designating its vehicles as the Type 1, Type 2, and Type 3. Somewhere in its history, VW decided to be more than just the company that provided Beetles and Microbuses. Read more…
