No one buys a minivan hoping to prove themselves hip. No one buys a minivan with dreams of scorching the asphalt at the Friday night drags. They’re not imagining romantic moonlit cruises in glamorous locations. Or even impressing the neighbors. Instead, minivan shoppers are focused…
A few weeks ago, we recounted how, in 2017, Toyota’s RAV4 crossover became the country’s best-selling vehicle that’s not a pickup. RAV sales soared past the 400,000 mark, familiar territory for Ford’s F-150 but a first for a crossover. We didn’t mention that another small…
When Kia debuted its Telluride crossover last spring, you knew that a Hyundai version would be along shortly. Now, it’s here. Hyundai’s midsize, three-row Palisade arrived in showrooms this summer. Hewing to corporate strategy, the Kia presents as a more rugged crossover, while the Hyundai...
Last year, Toyota took the unusual step of updating the hatchback version of the compact Corolla months before giving the same treatment to the better-selling sedan. Now, both vehicles — the 2020 sedan and hatch — are available, along with an all-new sedan hybrid. Before…
Some people will tell you that the Honda Civic once saved the brand. Honda is now Japan’s second-largest automaker and the world’s eighth-largest, but it has limped its way to death’s door more than once. In the early ‘70s, a series of bad management decisions...
There’s a sweet spot in the luxury crossover segment shaped just like the midsize Lexus RX 350. It’s a sizable sweet spot and Lexus populates it with four distinct models: the bread-and-butter five-passenger RX 350 ($43,820); the RX 450h ($46,245) hybrid; the three-row RX 350L…
In the beginning, there was the Genesis, a large luxury sedan from Hyundai. Hyundai launched the surprisingly good Genesis in 2008. It reigned as Hyundai’s flagship for seven years before the company spun off a new division called — what else?— Genesis. Genesis is to…
In 2017, the Toyota RAV4 made history by selling 408,000 units and displacing its Camry stablemate as the country’s top-selling non-pickup. Now, the RAV4 gets its first full makeover since 2012. The fifth-generation 2019 RAV is built on an all-new platform and gets a more…
I needed a little time to reset my perceptions and accept that the big crossover in my driveway was a Kia. A big, all-new three-row Kia. The 2020 Telluride ($31,690) is the largest vehicle Kia has ever built. And easily among the best. How good…
The little Golf is Volkswagen’s smallest vehicle — and its most versatile. VW campaigns five distinct vehicles — a mix of hatchbacks and station wagons — under the Golf banner. They range from the essential five-door Golf hatch ($21,845) to the track-friendly Golf R ($40,395)....
Lately, Mazda, the brand that added Zoom-Zoom to the automotive lexicon, has been quietly slipping upstream. In the past few years, its crisply designed interiors have grown quieter and more finely crafted. Ride quality has improved with each generation. Safety and driver-assist features are liberally...