There’s more than just differing levels of enthusiasm for the letter “u” separating Americans from their Canadian neighbors. There’s a powertrain divide, too, and in no vehicle line is this more apparent than in Mazda’s new 3 compact sedan and hatch.

You read the first drive review on Monday, and some of you perhaps recoiled a bit after seeing the starting price for a 2019 3 sedan, inflated due to a greater level of standard content, a singular (formerly uplevel) engine, and the lack of a manual transmission in all but one bodystyle and trim. It’s possible the latter change ruffled a few more feathers.

Well, head across the border and you’ll feel none of these concerns. The 3 offered by Mazda Canada casts a far wider net, inviting all comers, though the company insists it hasn’t left its premium aspirations behind. Read More >

Volvo is taking a very unique approach to its advertising for the Super Bowl this year. Rather than simply have the network air its commercials during the breaks, it has decided to compete with the game directly for viewership.

Called “The Longest Drive,” the automaker’s smartphone game is reminiscent of dealer and radio contests where people have to keep their hands on the car to win it. The difference here is that Volvo is concerned with your eyes. Participants will compete to log the most amount of time looking at stock footage of the Volvo S60 in the hopes of claiming one as a prize.

Mercedes-Benz tried something similar last year with its digitized “Last Fan Standing” competition. In that contest, people were asked to keep their finger on a Mercedes-AMG C43 Coupe as the company monitored their cell phone, waiting for them to make a mistake. Unfortunately, mistakes were made long before the contest began.  Read More >

Which sedan has the looks of a BMW, but without all the tedious reliability that comes standard from the Bavarian offering? Why, it’s the Alfa Romeo Alfetta, from 1979.
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Volkswagen could be on the verge of going Oprah, tossing electric MEB platforms to adoring fans like a pile of Pontiac G6s.

After forging an alliance with Ford — a partnership that might result in MEB-based Blue Oval vehicles — the automaker is reportedly looking at making its EV architecture available to anyone who wants it. Read More >

It’s already half here. The Toyota Yaris sedan, formerly the Scion iA, is the rebadged twin of the subcompact Mazda launched in Montreal in 2015. You’ll note that Mazda does not sell a second-generation 2 in North America, making that launch a relatively pointless endeavor for the automaker.

Now that Toyota has gone ahead and killed off the Toyota Yaris hatch (the Yaris that’s actually a Toyota), a space has opened up. Chances are good that the little hatch we didn’t get in 2015 will finally arrive in 2020, bearing another brand’s logo. Read More >

Mitsubishi is too busy turning the brand around to bother trickling out newsworthy content to the media. Much of what you read in the press relates to how the brand is doing as the newest addition to the Renault-Nissan Alliance, hot takes regarding its marketing decisions, and the occasional update from auto executives on future products. For the most part, the latter issue can be paraphrased into “more utility models as soon as we can get them to you,” though the company does have limited aspirations for a new sedan and pickup.

However, crossovers come first at Mitsubishi. On Tuesday, the brand put out the initial teaser for its Engelberg Tourer Concept — an ultra-modern CUV with off-road ambitions headed for a debut at the Geneva Motor Show in March. Read More >

America. It’s generally thought of as the country where everything is bigger and customers get a lot more for a lot less. Take the price of fuel, for example, or the portions at any all-you-can-eat buffet.

Viewed in that light, this base model Durango should have an American flag on the hood and pictures of bald eagles stitched into the seats. This is a lot of truck for less than $30,000.

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On Monday, Matthew Guy asked all of you to nominate vehicles that were ahead of their time. Those rare occasions where vehicles anticipated the desires of consumers, even before said desires were fully formed. Today, we flip it around and talk about Hall and Oates lyrics vehicles which were out of touch or behind the times, even when new.

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Despite seeming to be older than the dirt on which it rolls, the Toyota Tacoma is enjoying massive sales growth. In fact, it recently had its best-ever December, quarter, and year since introduction. Seriously. It was up an enormous 24 percent for the year, enjoying thirteen consecutive best-ever months.

For 2020, Toyota is massaging the midsizer’s styling, bringing it slightly more in line with its big brothers. We’ve brightened the image to give you a better look.

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It looks as if certain 2019 model year Jaguar E-Pace crossovers have left the factory improperly equipped. Back in November, an owner created an account on the EPaceForum to share their experience. According to the posting, the E-Pace arrived with some features missing. Functions like navigation, WiFi, live weather and sports updates, Apple CarPlay, and Android Auto were all absent.

While you might assume Jaguar could sort this out by simply issuing a software fix at an accredited service center, things are a little more complicated than that. The poster said they were swiftly contacted by Jaguar Land Rover and their dealer, only to be told what they already knew: that their vehicle left the factory missing the “InControl Pack and Smart Settings” that make these systems functional.

Worse still, JLR said nothing could be done about it.  Read More >

Hyundai’s Kona Electric is gradually seeping into select dealerships across the United States, requiring the company to (finally) make a definitive statement about its price. While our time spent with the model was brief, it left a positive initial impression. Clearly targeting the likes of Chevrolet’s Bolt and Tesla’s Model 3, the Kona EV did a fine job standing its ground and injecting a fun persona into alternative-energy vehicles.

While good, we held off on declaring it a modern masterpiece until we knew how much Hyundai planned to sell it for. Too expensive and people will tune out because, despite its unique charms, it’s technically still a subcompact crossover from a budget-friendly automaker — slick electric powertrain notwithstanding. Too cheap and the company is basically throwing money out the window, as the model is unlikely to be manufactured in high volumes and the brand can fall back on the federal government’s EV tax credits to absorb some of the cost.  Read More >

Maybe that headline’s too harsh, but have you seen a recent Cadillac commercial? If nothing comes to mind, that merely illustrates the brand’s problem. The bulk of its marketing efforts are, in this writer’s opinion, boring, forgettable, and uninspired. Just showing that a crossover can drive sedately down a dry, urban street isn’t enough to get audiences jazzed over a purchase. A Trabant can drive down a street and, yes, people can be merry and youthful inside it. (Odds are against it, but it could happen.)

Scroll down to see one of the brand’s latest, this one for its new XT4 compact. You won’t thank me.

Let’s face it — most of Cadillac’s ads could cure sleep apnea, leaving sufferers refreshed and alert the next morning. It was against this grim marketing backdrop that, while viewing a news spot from last night’s Great Lakes region snowstorm, I watched a random driver create the best ad Cadillac never paid for. Read More >

Julia Steyn, head of General Motors’ Maven mobility brand, is reportedly leaving the company. Stayn joined GM in 2012, starting out as the automaker’s vice president of corporate development and global mergers and acquisitions, then switching to the company’s urban mobility unit and Maven three years ago.

Maven, if you’re not aware, is a GM-owned car-sharing service that underwent an expansion last year, allowing owners of newer GM cars to rent out their vehicles to eligible users. The mobility experiment will have to continue with someone else at the helm. Read More >

There’s no shortage of F Sport models populating the Lexus lineup, but those efforts amount to little more than an appearance package designed to foist some of the aura of the brand’s F performance division onto pedestrian models. There’s no additional power.

While the brand already has two F models in the form of the GS F and RC F, there’s groundwork afoot to identify the right crossover for F duty. Surely you’re not surprised. Read More >

This May sees Toyota mark the 20th anniversary of the start of Tundra production. When that happy date arrives, there’s be two full generations of full-size truck memories to look back on. Yes, the Tundra is old, with the current generation bowing for the 2007 model year. A significant refresh came in 2014, with minor tweaks occuring ever since.

While testing a loaded 2018 crew cab variant a while back, this writer couldn’t help noticing the Tundra’s advancing age, despite the addition of new creature comforts and tech. The rig I piloted also weighed nearly 900 pounds more than a comparable Ford F-150.

Well, there’s good news for that uniquely loyal crop of Toyota truck owners. A new Tundra is on the way, but it won’t entirely break from the past. You’ll certainly recognize the cab. Read More >