Jeep has one of the tougher challenges in the business, especially when it comes to its longest-running nameplates, such as Wrangler and Grand Cherokee.
That challenge is this – how to keep models that are based on an old-school formula, one that heavily involves off-road chops and, in this case, an optional V8 engine, modern.
Jeep has been up to the task so far with the Wrangler, even introducing a hybrid to the line. Now it’s the Grand Cherokee’s turn.
The Los Angeles Auto Show is this week — yes, it’s actually happening, as of this writing, and this author is boarding a flight for Cali tomorrow — and one of the vehicles that had been teased in advance of the show was the Mazda CX-50.
The 2022 Volkswagen Jetta GLI may be changed, but its character remains the same.
Just like with the heavily updated Golf GTI, that’s cause for a sigh of relief.
Perhaps even more so, since the Jetta GLI doesn’t get the same high-falutin’ interior treatment. Thank God for keeping it old school.
Mazda has announced that the 2023 CX-50 will debut on November 15th, foreshadowing its production launch in January of 2022 at the Alabama plant it shares with Toyota. That means odds are good that the model will share more than a few components with the Toyota Corolla Cross. But Mazda has been adamant that CX-50 is a unique vehicle riding on its very own platform.
Unique is a relative term, however, when the upcoming model represents another “lifestyle vehicle” designed to convince consumers that a jack-of-all-trades crossover is ready and willing to drag them up the side of a mountain. Officially, Mazda is claiming this one caters to adults with particularly active lifestyles and has surrounded it with nature-themed marketing materials. That presumably has something to do with the CX-50 boasting “enhanced all-wheel-drive capabilities.” (Read More…)
The 2022 Volkswagen Golf R remains a potent backroad weapon – almost too potent.
I came to this conclusion while driving part of North Carolina’s famed Rattler highway. The Golf R, one of the hottest of hot hatches, was making me feel a bit like a superhero thanks to stout brakes, the ability to shorten straightaways, and firm and accurate steering that allowed me to place the wheels exactly where I wanted/needed them to be.
And all this while I was driving relatively conservatively because I was on a public road. Imagine this car unleashed on a track.
While Toyota undoubtedly helped to popularize hybrid vehicles with the Prius, it’s been comparatively hesitant to pull the trigger on all-electric vehicles sold in its name. But things have a habit of changing and the automaker has officially revealed its first production EV.
The bZ4X crossover is Toyota’s first official attempt at a battery-electric production car and seems to check all the necessary boxes without straying too far from the brand’s modus operandi. For example, the 71.4 kWh battery yielding an estimated 285 to 310 miles of range isn’t groundbreaking. But it’s competitive and Toyota says it focused on delivering undertaxed power cells aided by water cooling to help prolong its lifespan. (Read More…)
Now that fuel prices are popping off and it’s becoming glaringly obvious that we’re falling into another recession, one would hope that automakers would be prioritizing their more economical models. Unfortunately, most manufacturers operating in North America spent the last decade culling the smallest models from their lineup. Domestic brands took the practice so far that several no longer offer traditional cars, opting instead for compact crossover vehicles yielding higher price tags and broader profit margins. Foreign brands were only marginally more reserved with the ax.
This has helped move the average vehicle transaction price beyond $42,000 in the United States, according to Edmunds, with used rates sitting somewhere around $28,000. Though the cause isn’t entirely down to there being a complete lack of econoboxes on the market. Increased regulations and the industry’s newfound obsession with connectivity/tech have also increased pricing. But it doesn’t change the fact that we’re now confronting a situation where almost nobody is selling the kind of small, affordable vehicles that cater to shoppers needing to be thrifty right when they really need them. (Read More…)
Audi recently announced a new, super luxurious version of its largest sedan, and it’ll wear some branding not seen in a very long time. Wake up Horch, it’s 2022.
Today’s Rare Ride will upset some of you. It’s one of those cars that was very common in its day, entirely disposable, and a prime example of the characterless econobox. Yet because it was such a throwaway, nobody ever saved one – except this one.
Visiting us from 21 years ago, it’s a Chevy Metro with 400 miles.
Earlier this week, someone sent me an addendum sticker from Mercedes-Benz of Selma, in Texas. The addendum added two line items to the sticker price. The first line item was VIN etching, at $199. That’s controversial enough, since some people have said that VIN etching is the scam of the decade – but those people haven’t seen the second item: A “Market Adjustment” charge for $125,000.
You read that right. One-hundred and twenty-five thousand U.S. American dollars – and that’s on top of the Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG’s already steep $178,000 asking price. But, frankly, it’s not the 70 percent markup that’s the most offensive thing here, It’s not even the $199 charge for the VIN etching.
Frankly, the worst part of this is that MB of Selma will very likely get their markup. And, when they do, they will deserve every single penny.
Kia’s current tagline is “movement that inspires” and while I am not sure if the 2023 Kia Sportage will be inspiring, exactly, it will catch your attention.
“You don’t need it, but you’ll want it.”
It’s a common refrain when discussing bonkers performance vehicles, particularly ones that are based on family haulers. I’ve said a version of that a time or two in reviews I’ve written here and elsewhere. But some cliches are cliches because they’re true.
On the other hand, sometimes just because you want something cool, it’s not the practical choice.
Enter the 2021 Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat.
The 2023 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 is here.
And on paper, it appears to be bad-ass in ways worthy of the Z06 designation.
When the Grand Cherokee originally debuted back in 1993, Americans were just warming up to the idea of daily driven sport-utility vehicles. The idea was pretty straight-forward: Take the capability of the Cherokee XJ, tune it for real-world drivability, tweak the look, and add some creature comforts that shift the scales away from the utilitarian toward the premium.
Nearly three decades later the concept remains largely the same, but the all-new Grand Cherokee L is worlds apart from the first generation ZJ. Aside from the third row (a first for a Grand Cherokee), this decked-out SUV rolls around on decidedly massive 21-inch wheels, boasts massaging front seats covered in quilted Palermo leather and a 19-speaker McIntosh audio system, and floats on an adjustable air suspension with adaptive dampers – latter of which is also a first for the model.
Minivans are rarely sexy, but that won’t stop companies from trying to make them attractive, with varying degrees of success.
The gang in Auburn Hills decided that eye-pleasing design might help the 2022 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid capture sales. With that whole “hybrid” thing thrown in for a good measure of green cred.
The approach mostly worked, at least within the limitations that the van shape imposes on creativity. The Pacifica Hybrid is, dare I say, stylish.
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