As it tries to carve out a foothold in the premium field, Genesis has priced its full-size G90 luxury sedan in an intermediate zone between its established German competition and new American range-toppers.

The G90 comes laden with standard features, so the price range of the four available configurations isn’t wide. With a starting price of $69,050 (including freight) for a rear-wheel-drive twin-turbo V6 model, the son-of-Hyundai hopes its flag bearer has enough value to get noticed. (Read More…)

There’s been a slow, yet steady change in the automotive marketplace over the last eight years, and you, the consumer, have been the lobster sitting in the pot as the change has occurred. The market has gotten significantly worse for car buyers. The number of franchise and independent dealers has been reduced by almost half. And yet, those surviving dealers have had an unprecedented run of year-over-year growth since 2008.

But as that growth has slowed in 2016, car buyers find themselves paying more money for used cars than ever before. We know that the typical American household can’t afford the typical new car sold in America, but we may soon be approaching a day when that same household can’t afford the typical used car, either. In fact, according to NADA Data, the average used car transaction price in 2016 will crest $20,000 for the first time in history, and will be 59.1 percent of the average new car transaction price of $33,903.

What does all of this mean to you? That buying used may not be the smartest financial choice you can make. In fact, it might not be very smart at all.

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If you’re looking for a revolution in design, you won’t get it from the next-generation Audi A5 and S5.

Audi unveiled its redesigned personal luxury coupe last night, following a glitzy light show at the automaker’s Ingolstadt, Germany headquarters. The 2017 versions of the A5 and performance-oriented S5 give traditional German luxury car buyers exactly what they want — more room, more power, and design changes that don’t go over the top. (Read More…)

Lexus is looking to replace its aging Prius-based CT200h hybrid with a new model — possibly one that’s bigger, wider, and boxier than before.

Since it’s 2016, Lexus decided the crossover craze demands a move away from a compact hatchback design, the brand’s European chief implied when speaking to Autocar. (Read More…)

The refreshed Lexus IS bowed today at the Beijing Motor Show, presenting an even hungrier face than before.

Lexus kept the well-defined proportions of the entry-level sedan intact, but went to town on the front end. The corporate spindle grille now sports a higher cinch point and spacetime-bending three-dimensional mesh. (Read More…)

Changes to the Tesla lineup have never come at a more rapid pace.

After revealing the new face of the Model S yesterday, and two weeks after unveiling the Model 3, Tesla has kept the news flowing by ditching the 70 kilowatt-hour battery in the base Model X for a 75 kWh juice pack — and bumping up the price to match.

The all-wheel-drive SUV doesn’t get any faster with the upgrade — the 0-60 mph time is still six seconds — but the 75D can now travel 17 miles further on a charge, going from a 220-mile range to 237 miles.

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It’s just the title of a recent Charlie Hunter album, but it says a lot about life in post-2008 America: Not Getting Behind Is The New Getting Ahead.

Here’s one example: According to Business Insider, the average middle-class family can no longer afford the average new car. Is that true? And if it is true, how and why did that happen, and what can be done to fix this sad state of affairs?

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Volvo set a corporate high-water mark for speed today by launching two new Polestar models, each with enough power to make a tenured Vermont professor blush.

Dropping two cylinders while gaining 22 horsepower, the upgraded S60 and V60 Polestars are part of Volvo’s effort to boost the visibility of its performance division.

The 2.0-liter Drive-E four-cylinder in the S60 and V60 Polestar (replacing the previous blown straight six) was worked over by Polestar engineers to make 367 horsepower and 347 pounds-feet of torque. The mill, which makes 240 horsepower in T5 models, gains muscle from a supercharger, larger turbocharger and air intake, and a higher-capacity fuel pump.

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“Hybrids? Those things that can’t make up their mind on what they want to be in life? Come on!” – Mazda.

That, Volkswagen floors the accelerator past a deadline, March looks like a boffo month for vehicle sales, Audi dials it back a bit, and getting a Tesla Model 3 depends on whether or not you’re in the club … after the break!

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Spy shots of the next-generation Nissan Micra undergoing road testing have rolled in from southern Europe.

Despite the camoflage, it’s the clear the next sub-subcompact Micra will be a departure from the bulbous current model, no doubt influenced by the Nissan Sway concept car unveiled at the 2015 Geneva International Motor Show.

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Four-door coupe styling has filtered down to a newcomer in the Mercedes-Benz range — the GLC midsize crossover SUV.

For its second year on the market, the GLC will receive the coupe-like styling already endowed on its larger brother, the GLE. (Read More…)

General Motors has unveiled its refreshed 2017 Buick Encore, but you’ll have to muscle your way through a mob of leering frat boys in order to catch a peek.

Wait, that might misrepresent the Encore’s market just a little…

The smallest crossover in the GM fold gets a subtle makeover for 2017, trading its previous Buick waterfall front end for the new, corporate “winged” grille that adorns the restyled LaCrosse.

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After teasing Americans from a distance at the Geneva Motor Show earlier this month, a production version of a meaner Fiat 124 Spider has been unveiled by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in advance of its New York premiere.

The 2017 Fiat 124 Spider Elaborazione Abarth is a mouthful to pronounce, but the Old World name should help add some metaphysical distance between this massaged roadster and its Mazda MX-5 Miata underpinnings. (Read More…)

Toyotas will soon be screeching to a halt everywhere and that should make its rivals jealous.

That, BMW unleashes the robots on the workers, eccentric automaker picks a place with funny-sounding names, General Motors isn’t falling out of love with China, and Mercedes-Maybach to get a rival … after the break!

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My first thought was that a constant velocity joint on the left axle exploded again. However, Mike the mechanic (not to be confused with Mike and the Mechanics) told me there was “a hole in the transmission” in the ’02 Saturn that’s been my daily driver the past few years. I spent a few days asking myself whether it made any sense putting $1,000 into a 15 year old car that’s gone on pretty much unchanged since it was first designed in the early ’90s. My second thought: What’s the next thing that’s going to break?

I started looking around for a small, inexpensive, new car, with a focus on subcompacts. I also asked my colleagues who review a lot more cars than I do for their recommendations and settled on two finalists, the Ford Fiesta and Honda Fit. (Read More…)