Category: Ford

Ford SUVs are the key to future success in Ford’s business.  As Ford leaves the sedan (not car) business, they have given the first glimpse of their all new 2020 Explorer Crossover SUV (XSUV). The new Explorer replaces the fifth generation D4 platform Explorer with a totally modern platform. The all new body is unitized just like its predecessor but it is now rear wheel drive giving up its previous front wheel drive architecture. Explorer looks much like its predecessors with evolutionary, but modern, styling. Rear wheel drive lets its proportions be much more contemporary.

Features will be a major part of the Explorer story going forward.  The new Explorer XSUV gains the Ford CoPilot 360+ suite of safety and driver assistance features. When launched, Explorer arguably will be the most feature laden vehicle offered by Ford.

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The all new 2018 Hyundai Kona small crossover SUV (XSUV) has just been shown to the press in an event held, wait for it, on the Kona Coast of The Big Island of Hawaii.  There were 23 or 24 Konas on hand for the journalists to drive around the island.  So, this was a pretty big event for Hyundai Motor America (HMA).

In AutoPacific’s 2017 Small XSUV Consultancy, 38 XSUVs with a wheelbase of 110-inches or less are included.  There were enough data to do complete analyses on that many individual vehicles.  There are an additional seven all new small XSUVs on sale now but too new to have been included in the AutoPacific database.  That makes 45 entries in the small XSUV category.  Now comes the 2018 Hyundai Kona wading into the fray.

The mid-size sedan market is extremely competitive, but has been losing sales to the booming crossover sport utility vehicle market. SUVs provide the usefulness buyers want without making the sacrifices that used to be required. Carmakers now can make their cars "cars" again.

The all new VW Tiguan gives Volkswagen a much needed competitor in the hot compact crossover SUV market. Competing with the likes of the Honda CR-V, Nissan Rogue, Toyota RAV4 and Ford Escape, Tiguan has to be outstanding to win in the consideration set including those vehicles. Is it good enough?

The new Genesis G90 sets a new record for satisfaction results in AutoPacific's New Vehicle Satisfaction research. The results are distributed across the industry with American brands providing the most satisfying trucks and SUVs. Asian brands dominate car satisfaction results.

2017 Honda Civic Si brings enthusiast-oriented driving to the Honda Civic small car lineup. Exterior, interior, powertrain and chassis upgrades differentiate the Honda Civic Si from the rest of the Civic lineup.

The VW Atlas crossover enter the American SUV market at a time the market is booming. It is a competent XSUV going up against some serious heavyweights like the Ford Explorer and Honda Pilot.

Ford is updating its iconic sporty coupe giving us a more aggressive Mustang for 2018. In industry parlance this could be termed a "front and rear six" meaning the front and rear six inches of the car has been changed. The 2018 change is a bit more than that. The front end is the main contributor to the more aggressive Mustang look. The standard LED headlamps flank a redesigned grille which has a new sporty texture. The front fenders, front fascia, and hood are all new. In the rear end, the taillamp graphics are tweaked a bit, not so you'd notice.

The all-new 2017 Honda CR-V is a substantial improvement over the already excellent 2016 CR-V. Looking very similar, the CR-V has been transformed under the skin with better spaciousness, better ride and handling and better performance. Given these changes, CR-V should remain the highest volume Mid-Size Crossover SUV.

The all new Honda CR-V is an impressive compact crossover SUV. A pillar of Honda's product lineup that includes Accord, Civic and Odyssey, the CR-V sells almost 400,000 units per year. The entry crossover SUV category has become the best selling class of vehicle in the United States. Entry crossover SUV sales are higher than mid-size cars. The popularity of the segment, and how good this new CR-V is, has led Honda to add more assembly capacity at its Indiana assembly plant in 2017.