On The Road

Another reality of the marketplace has sunk in. Like Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Mercury, Saturn, Plymouth, and a host of others, Scion is soon to be history.

The Hyundai Sonata Hybrid has champagne looks, but even my beer budget can afford it.

This is a clean, tight, almost German looking shape that wouldn't be out of place on an Audi or a Bimmer.

In a time when so many cars from Asian manufacturers looked, well, cookie-cutterish, the cars from Mazda went their own way.

Our friends at Kia don’t like calling the new Sedona a minivan. They prefer the phrase “multipurpose vehicle.”

Lots of automakers have tried to make some kind of an SUV that gives you truly good performance and handling. Until now, only the Subaru Outback came close for me, but Mazda’s smallest crossover, the CX-5, may take the crown.

I recall a time when the folks at Hyundai had to add what’s known in the trade as a “pronouncer” to their signs at auto shows so folks would know how to say the company’s name.

The new Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon are winning applause and awards from everyone with access to a plastic trophy factory, and with good reason. They are great trucks.

When the folks at Honda dropped off a shiny, yellow Fit at the office, it was snowing. I found myself wondering, how will this little front-wheel-drive economy sedan fare in that daily Iditarod that is my winter commute.

A lot of folks may forget that Honda was the first of the Japanese makes to create a luxury division, like Cadillac or Lincoln. And like the two domestics, they took their bread and butter sedans, fitted them for a tux, jacked up the price and voila! You have instant luxury.