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This article appeared in the December 8, 2005 issue of USA Today. While VehicleVoice agrees in general with what Healey and O'Donnell report, we should not lose sight that folks really have vehicles in only a few clearly identifiable classes: Cars (sedans, coupes, sports cars) and Trucks (pickups, SUVs and Minivans). In VehicleVoice Research, there is seldom any comment on "crossovers". A vehicle is either an SUV or its not. Folks will talk about softer SUVs (crossovers) that maneuver better, get better fuel economy. But, too many manufacturers are forgetting that, at a glance, a crossover needs to be at-a-glance an SUV.

Saab's 9-5, last launched all new for 1998 model year, is getting a bit long in the tooth, and an all-new iteration is still some way off. In today's auto market a five year life cycle is long, let alone a seven year cycle. But the venerable 9-5 still has years to go before it is all new.

California law requires 6 hours of in-car instruction by a professional drivers education teacher (cost $250). I feel that is very few hours so I upgraded to the 10-hour package (cost $300). Now it is the parent’s responsibility to make sure their child has a total of 50 hours driving experience, 10 of those hours at night.

The Suzuki SX4, a new small Post-Modern SUV (or crossover, or sport wagon), joins Suzuki's North American lineup after an introduction at the 2006 New York show in April, 2006. Sales are scheduled for late Summer 2006 in the States, and the U.S. and European spec versions will carry similar styling.

Second generation Hyundai Santa Fe will be unveiled at 2006 North American International Auto Show in Detroit in early January.

General Motors recently announced it would close 12 facilities and cut 30,000 jobs by 2008. Granted, GM is burdened with costly labor contracts and huge numbers of retirees, reflecting an era when it had (in 1962) as much as 51 percent of the U.S. vehicle market. But GM also inherits a self-defeating management style formed during its glory days.

The National Insurance Institute of Highway Safety announced its rankings of the ten safest 2006 model year cars on Sunday December 4, 2005. To make the ratings game easier to understand, NIIHS has developed a gold silver rating scheme.

Mitsubishi ConceptCT shows one way to build an aspirational small car.

The latest iteration of the Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder will be unveiled at the 2006 Detroit auto show this January. Sales will start in spring 2006, in time for summertime top-down motoring. While unveiling a convertible in the Midwest in January may seem an unlikely venue, Mitsubishi has a history of launching Eclipse production and concept models in Detroit.

Simple, affordable Hyundai Santa Fe passes rental car test. High end German products fail. Are their engineers answering questions that no-one is asking?