Category: New Model Introductions

Volkswagen's Golf GTI finally returns to the States with 200HP and a six-speed manual transmission.

Nissan Versa another entry in growing B-Segment small car category in the USA

Volvo's flagship gets needed update for 2007MY. Platform shared with Lincoln MKS.

Ford and GM going head-to-head this fall with major changes to their large SUVs, and Expedition adds an Extended Length version.

Nissan may have missed the mark with 2007 Sentra...time will tell.

Jaguar XK sports car priced from $75,000.

Kia launches all new Kia Optima mid-size sedan for 2007

The Honda Fit arrives in dealers in April 2006 with Toyota's Yaris and Chevrolet's updated Aveo and Nissan's Versa all launched within 2006. Honda chose the North American International Auto Show to unveil their new Fit while Toyota launched the Yaris at the Los Angeles Auto Show , with Vehicle Voice and AutoPacific correspondents on hand. Elsewhere in the segment, Kia's Rio and Hyundai's Accent were all-new for the 2006MY. The oldest product in the segment is actually the Scion xA, and that model launched nationally for the 2004MY.

In an auto show season when the USA audience has the chance to see an all new (to the USA) Mercedes-Benz S-Class and Lexus LS460, there is an opportunity to do some deep soul searching about the group of flagship sedans that top the car market in the USA. We include the Audi A8, BMW 7-Series, Infiniti Q45, Jaguar XJ, and Lexus LS in this group of excellent cars. We might reach downmarket a bit to the Acura RL and upwards a lot to the Bentley Continentals, but the key competitors are Audi, BMW, Jaguar, Lexus and Mercedes. By far, the best seller has been the Lexus capturing 27% of the class in its last full year of production.

Our take on the styling of the Chrysler Aspen is that Durango got hit with a boring stick. An SUV aspiring to luxury tastes can still be distinctive (Escalade, Navigator, QX56, etc) and do not have to be dulled down to appeal to more upscale pocketbooks.