As promised, Mazda threw the sheets off its mystery vehicle at the Geneva Motor Show, revealing a small crossover that’s not too small.

The brand’s CX-3 often earns gripes for its diminutive size and limited interior volume, not to mention its middling ground clearance, but until today there was nothing to bridge the gap between CX-3 and the automaker’s wildly popular CX-5 (unless you live in China, which has exclusive access to the CX-4). With its new CX-30, Mazda enters the middle ground between compact and subcompact. (Read More…)

In jurisdictions that allow motorists some semblance of freedom (*cough* not future Europe *cough*), speed limiters aren’t a common topic of conversation. But they do exist, and many an American pickup owner has hit the governor while passing motorists in open territory.

Volvo Cars isn’t concerned about your gross vehicle weight rating, tire speed rating, or any of that stuff. In the interest of safety, the automaker plans to introduce a speed ceiling for all of its vehicles, even if it means pissing off Germans. (Read More…)

Jaguar’s smallest sedan, positioned as a BMW 3 Series fighter, may not be the first rival one thinks of when contemplating a Bimmer purchase. It might not even happen at all, judging by the model’s U.S. sales. In 2018, half of the XE’s monthly tallies showed the little Jag at one-tenth the volume of its German competitor.

Well, Jaguar’s not giving up on the model just yet. In a bid to lure buyers into the XE, Jag addressed a few problems for the model’s 2020 refresh. You’ll notice there’s not much afoot with its exterior, as that wasn’t the main issue. (Read More…)

So, perhaps not cheapest for long. Tuesday, the German automaker announced its next-generation Macan crossover will divest itself of internal combustion for its next generation.

By adopting new architecture and dropping its gas powerplant, the Macan, refreshed for 2019 and currently starting at just a tick below $50k U.S., will become the company’s third electric vehicle. It’s unlikely the S and GTS variants will survive, but perhaps the Macan will retain TURBO badging of a non-turbo nature? (Read More…)

Fiat Chrysler’s Tuesday announcement will surely make it the darling among domestic automakers, especially in the eye of a certain American president.

To fund the creation of new and next-generation models, most of them Jeeps, FCA is committing $4.6 billion to numerous Michigan plants, $1.6 billion of which will flow to Detroit’s Mack Avenue Engine Complex (soon to become a vehicle assembly plant). Among the vehicles funded with this promise are the long-awaited Jeep Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer. Oh, and there’s another new Jeep on the way.

Another tidbit: FCA really likes the extra cash brought in by the old-generation Ram 1500 Classic. The model, seen above in Warlock trim, will soldier on. (Read More…)

There’s a reason for the use of upper-case letters — the Volkswagen Jetta is still a car model sold in China, and a quite popular one at that, while JETTA is a new brand aimed at entry-level consumers in that mega market.

VW is an incredibly big deal in the world’s most car-hungry country, eating up a considerable share of China’s mainstream vehicle segments. The brand sold 3.11 million vehicles in China last year. However, its presence at the bottom end of the market isn’t quite as strong, and there remains many millions of Chinese who haven’t adopted the new way of life and picked up a car. That’s what JETTA’s for. (Read More…)

Twenty-eight years after limping out of the U.S. marketplace, news comes of Peugeot’s impending return. While we’ve known for nearly three years that a newly invigorated PSA Group plans to slowly increase its presence in North America, ultimately offering French cars for retail sale, until Monday the exact brand at the forefront of the plan remained a mystery.

Wonder no more. The last French brand offered for sale in North America will be the next one offered for sale. (Read More…)

As parent Fiat Chrysler gets to work bringing its Italian luxury marque out of the doldrums of 2018, pushing the brand past the botched Levante launch and its poorly thought-out grouping with Alfa Romeo, electrification and utility vehicles are top of mind.

FCA believes fresh product and a new brand boss focused on its success will help Maserati regain its financial and sales footing. One of those products aims to excite, while simultaneously placating the green crowd and those unwilling to give up a gasoline engine. (Read More…)

You wouldn’t know it, but that’s a heavily refreshed 2020 Volvo XC90 staring back at you from the header image. Good thing the grille still carries a Volvo badge.

Okay, the tweaks made to the SUV’s front fascia are milder than chain restaurant salsa, but the changes to the Swedish brand’s largest vehicle for 2020 are more than skin deep. For the upcoming model year, Volvo rolls out the first of its B-badged vehicles. What’s B? It signifies the presence of a kinetic energy recovery system designed to boost fuel economy by up to 15 percent. (Read More…)

Let’s face it — with the possible exception of the Stinger, Kia’s vehicle lineup is hardly the automotive equivalent of Britt Ekland, circa 1971. Few are. Still, the automaker has made great strides in terms of design, as well as quality. Also on the march is the brand’s technological prowess, and it’s this knowledge that underpins a new concept vehicle coming to the Geneva Motor Show next month.

It’s turning out to be a year of electrics for Kia, but the vehicle the brand plans to reveal in Geneva differs from the Niro EV and Soul EV in a key area: sex appeal, which is sorely — yet understandably — lacking in its brace of sort-of crossovers. (Read More…)

We’ve hinted at this before, but now there’s order guides and pricing to share. While Cadillac’s CT6 flagship sedan will soon be without a home, General Motors hasn’t said anything about dropping the model. Once Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly shuts off the lights, GM would like to source its full-size sedan from some other place, be it China or another U.S. factory.

In the interim, there’s a new engine poised to appear beneath the sedan’s hood. (Read More…)

On Monday, General Motors stated its intent to invest $36 million into Lansing Delta Township Assembly, maker of large crossovers since its inception.

Little info was provided on the details of the investment, and GM claims the cash won’t expand Lansing’s complement of 2,600 employees. GM CEO Mary Barra said the investment is needed to “prepare the plant for future crossover production.”

Let’s indulge in a little speculation. (Read More…)

As part of its 2020 model year refresh, GMC’s midsize Acadia crossover gains three engine options and three additional cogs for its automatic transmission. It also gains an AT4 variant — the brawny-lux GMC sub-brand introduced on the 2019 GMC Sierra pickup, though a modest suspension lift isn’t a part of this AT4’s package.

While the squared-off grille and newly blunt front end will no doubt be the first thing anyone notices about the 2020 Acadia, they’ll soon notice the top-flight Denali loses its standard V6 engine. (Read More…)

The whisperings from earlier this week panned out, but only partway. Amazon, the e-commerce giant that’s probably sending a cookbook to your neighbor’s house as you read this, is leading a $700 million investment in Michigan-based automotive startup Rivian.

What’s missing from this news is General Motors, which, according to sources who spoke to Reuters and Bloomberg earlier in the week, was looking to sink its own cash into the company.  (Read More…)

We’ve gone from concept vehicle to prototype, but Honda’s upcoming Urban EV — a pint-sized commuter that’s arguably the first mainstream electric to garner legitimate youth enthusiasm — is no closer to coming to North America. It’s also less retro than its show car predecessor, but no one expected that trillion-inch flatscreen to make it to production.

Oh, you’ll still have screens galore, though. (Read More…)