2010

Cruising blissfully along a bucolic upstate New York two lane in BMW's new 550i Gran Turismo, I remark to my stunningly beautiful traveling companion, 'I'm going to wind up liking this car for reasons that have absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the car.'

As a company, Cadillac has had a long and glorious history. Once heralded as the standard of the world, Cadillac still holds a special place in the consciousness of the general public. When something is really nice, it is even now said to be the 'Cadillac' of whatever that thing is. And now we have the Cadillac of station wagons.

Fording a body of water is de rigueur on any Land Rover demonstration drive. So every time we passed one, I asked my Land Rover guide Chris Tefke, 'Is this it?'

Gorgeous engine note, scintillating acceleration, finely balanced handling, all-conquering brakes and steering so communicative you'd think it's been to counseling to learn to get in touch with its feelings.

Regular followers of these pages know I've made no secret of my passion for Jaguar cars. They also know I've felt the cars were underpowered for the segment they're crafted to compete in. I mean come on, how can you be proud of the fact that your Jaguar makes 300 horsepower, when a Nissan Z makes 330?

While the first images of the all-new 370Z coupe gave me pause when they were released last year, my first glimpse of the 370Z Roadster was a definite 'oh yeah!' moment. Talking with Bruce Campbell, Nissan's VP of Design, I mentioned the lines of the new Z made more sense to me now that I've seen it as as a roadster.

The five-door Mazda3 is one of the most entertaining compact cars available these days. With a driver-oriented cockpit, lighting reflexes and enough space to accommodate an active lifestyle, some buyers might think it’s just about perfect. Not Mazda.

2010 will see the introduction of a new Lincoln product that’s utterly unlike anything the brand has ever done before. Customers are deserting truck-based sport-utility vehicles in droves, and a growing number of multi-purpose crossover vehicles are taking their place, at both the low and high ends of the market.

The first luxury crossover to market, way back in 1998, the Lexus RX is also the brand’s best selling model and is often thought of as “the” Lexus of SUVs, despite the fact that the company also has a full-size traditional SUV, the LX 570.

It seems like the Honda Insight was robbed, in a way. The first hybrid-electric automobile sold in the United States should’ve gotten more recognition than it did. Instead, Honda’s perennial rival Toyota fielded its Prius less than a year later, and the four-door sedan went on to become an icon of “green” motoring, while the svelte, two-door Insight faded into memory in 2006.

Crossover vehicles are all the rage at the moment, and they’re quickly replacing truck like SUVs as the vehicles to have among buyers looking for versatility and bad-weather capability coupled with urban sensibility.

The new sixth generation Golf first debuted at the Paris Motor show last fall, and made its U.S. debut at this year's New York International Auto Show.

Spearheading the Ford Motor Company’s surge of new product for 2010 is the redesigned Taurus. Aimed at the heart of the family-sedan market, the revitalized Taurus is poised to return Ford to respectability in a market that’s been dominated for a decade by Honda and Toyota.

After a brief hiatus when gas prices were at their peak, the full-size Toyota Tundra pickup truck has come back swinging. For 2010, the Tundra gets significant updates including an available smaller, more efficient V8 engine and new option packages at the high and low end of the range.

Toyota’s Prius can rightly be considered the king of the hybrids. Though it debuted a year after Honda’s Insight, which was the first hybrid to hit the U.S. market, the Prius outlived that erstwhile competitor, and changed with the market to become an honestly useful car. The third-generation Prius is now available as an early 2010 model, and Toyota has kept the car on a familiar course.

Toyota’s Camry is a common sight, thanks to its best-seller status. The car that seems like it does everything right is aiming for a higher level of curb appeal for 2010, with an updated design and new features to help it stand out.

North American enthusiasts spent decades waiting for the Nissan GT-R, known as the Skyline in its home market, to become available on this continent. Nissan’s high-tech supercar finally crossed the Pacific for 2009, giving Nissan enthusiasts the chance to chase Porsche 911s and BMW M3s.

Many compact-car buyers these days don’t intend to “graduate” to anything larger, so with this in mind, compact cars are getting more luxurious. The all-new 2010 Mazda3 is at the forefront of a wave of entry-level cars that you’ll want to keep forever.

Dubbed “a new way to roll” by Kia Motors, the 2010 Kia Soul stands out from the crowd with modern, unique styling aimed toward the young and young-at-heart. Offering a combination of style, value and personalized options, Soul defies categorization while offering a long list of features and available accessories.

Following the introduction earlier this year of the rear-wheel drive Genesis sport sedan, Genesis Coupe is Hyundai’s most dynamic performance car ever and the second consecutive all-new model introduction from Hyundai appealing directly to the car enthusiast.

With the success of the Acadia, GMC has proven that it can do suburb-friendly trucks just as well as it can do jobsite-friendly ones. For 2010, a mid-sized, five-passenger crossover called the Terrain will join the full-size Acadia crossover.

Back in 1989, Ford dropped a high-performance V6 engine into its mild-mannered Taurus sedan, and a cult was created. The Taurus SHO became an instant hit with enthusiasts, and the “Super High Output” version remained the lineup’s flagship for a decade.

The Ford Fusion has made its mark as a stylish, affordable and fun-to-drive family-sized sedan. The vehicle has been popular since its introduction, but Ford isn’t letting the Fusion rest on past success. As the 2010 Taurus moves into a flagship position in the lineup, the Fusion also receives an update to make it a stronger mid-size contender.

It’s a good thing the Mustang has received a major makeover for 2010. A new exterior, interior and improved handling should help to keep “America’s favorite pony car” alive and kicking as a modern-day muscle car war begins.

The Cadillac SRX is morphing with the times. Formerly a large, station wagon-like vehicle, it changes completely for 2010, becoming a more compact crossover with a city-friendly footprint and Cadillac's signature luxury.

Acura’s TSX emerged in 2003 as a surprise challenger to compact, near-luxury sports sedans from Audi and BMW. The second-generation TSX continues that tradition, and for 2010 Acura will enable the car to compete head-to-head with the class leaders, thanks to the addition of a 280 horsepower V6.