Mule Bakersdozen LS

I agree on the bench seat part too, at least for the SEL trim level, and to envelope Taurus buyers (ditto Fusion) who might be turned off by that, or by those who want more room than an Impala.

Looks good, though the front end looks a little out of place (mainly the side marker lamps) and while it sounds like it has many new features and a few nice new colors (Dark Ink Blue sounds interesting), I really don't think any of this is going to change the Five Hundred or significantly increase its popularity, or have any kind of increase. The D3 platform was ill-timed, and how much life is left in it and what point there is, I don't know. I've always liked the Five hundred and its vast practicality and passenger and cargo room and while stylish, its bland and underowered reputation have yet to be overcome, and the bland part will not be no matter how you refresh it.

I like the Avenger's exterior styling, but the SE model spyshots looked sparse, and the dashboard is pretty cheap-looking-the Chrysler interior designers are really losing it. I really hate the new Sebring, it was just awful and cramped, and the entry/exit was terrible, and the 2.7-liter V-6 is weak, outdated, and shouldn't exist, and the 3.5-liter V-6 is so detuned (WHY!!???) to the point where it is so far behind most of the class. None of this bodes well for Avenger, and it needs to be a success since Dodge didn't bother to offer a compact sedan for whatever moronic reason.

Yawn-this boring, dated car has no real advantage over the competition-I'll take the boring and underpowered but far roomier Ford Five Hundred (or the smaller and less boring/underpowered Fusion) for similar/less money. Sure its been redesigned every 5 years, but they look too much the same-more so than Silverado and the other GMT900 trucks.

That's a concept car-looks more like a future Acura TSX than a U.S. Accord.

Where's the Caddy?

Cold on the heels of the Sebring crapcake and Compass abominations, the exterior design sucks, and why is the K-Car-era 3.3-liter V-6 still here? At least they finally ditched the 4-cylinder engine, which should have died with the first generation in 1995, and hopefully the Caravan SE's black bumpers die too. I like the current models (except the Caravan SE), but the equipment needs to be jacked up significantly, and hopefully it has the same or more passenger and cargo room than now, because its near top of the class and I hope it stays that way for the only good domestic minivans.

Looks better than the other crap out there-think about it-the compact crossover SUV segment consists of what-those Compass and Escape/Tribute/Mariner crapcakes (ancient crapcakes for the latter trio), the gutless/bad-wacky CR-V, and the soon-to-be-redesigned VUE, which is pretty boring looking, IMO. So, it seems this and RAV4 are the class contenders, and VUE, once it comes out. In other words, not bad, but I haven't read/seen the whole thing yet. Also, does this replace the X-Trail in other markets, including Canada?

Looks great but I don't like how the V-6 isn't standard on even 2 of the 3 models. Just trying to put yourself down to the import's level instead of going and actually offering more power for the money, like the 2000-03 Malibus which had a standard V-6 on both the base and LS models at the time. Nicely styled, the taillamps work, but I'd prefer the dual round taillamps of the Cobalt coupe, good engine selection, and too bad rear legroom is reduced-I hope its not by much, and I hope there's more trunk space. Can't wait to see more though!

Yeah its based on the LX (or LY?) platform of the 300/2003 Airflite concept (still my favorite, but the Nassau comes close to that and te 1998 Chronos), and powered by the 6.1-liter HEMI V-8 engine. I like this-the wheels aren't as nice as Airflite's, but its sure better than a Sebring and last year's abysmal Imperial concept car-I like the rear end, unique-looking. Good to see this and the Jeep Trailhawk (and Lincoln MKR) concept cars-now where's the Dodge and GM (new, not previously shown) concept cars?

Great article, good news about CTS that I hope comes to fruition-I can't wait to see this car-I've always liked the CTS, especially its style! I agree that GM has higher priorities than an XLR, an S-Class rival, and a Sixteen. The VW Phaeton was a good example, but VW is not and never should be a luxury car company-that's Audi's job. Cadillac is a luxury car company, but the new CTS and a better SRX, STS, and compact/mid-size models are where the market's at now, and GM has far higher priorities, such as say, a better Cobalt, Malibu, Zetas, and fixing Pontiac and that train wreck the Chevy Aveo. Also, use the 2002 Cien supercar concept for styling cues!

The 5-door hatch and wagon are passable, but the sedan is as boxy and bland as one can get these days-but no Vectra stands a chance in the styling department when compared to Renault Laguna, the new Ford Mondeo, etc. That base model pictured above looks downright cheap, and I've seen interior shots of the similar Signum in Auto Express a few years back-it reminded me of a 1980 Chevy Citation or such with its cheapie cloth and vinyl interior which has no business in any 2000's vehicle that's not a cheap subcompact or a work truck-trim pickup or cargo van. Yes, even worse than the base model minivans (no, that's not leather-its vinyl-even the Buick). Still, I can't wait to see the production Insignia-all the non-Aura Epsilon cars to date have been C-grade, fair-to-middling at the very best.

So where's the rest of the comparo? That sucks Aura placed near-last-even though the XE model has an engine that should never have been discussed, let alone brought to production, its still a fine car and absolutely no other mid-size car beats it in terms of value for the dollar-I hope the Aura XE continues like this, instead of GM someday screwing up and decontenting it like they did with the Malibu/Classic. The new Sebring is a horrible car, Camry is okay but nothing groundbreaking, Optima-185hp out of its V-6, lol? The Pontiac Grand Am had that in 1999! What a joke! And its styling is beyond unoriginal, so much that it makes the current Malibu look inspired. Why can't Car and Driver ever do actually comparative tests? Like, you know, matching up the Aura XR V-6 with the Accord EX V-6 and Camry XLE V-6, and not the 4-cylinder volume/base models vs. the mid-level/top V-6?

Is that the Carbon or the Navy Blue? I like the Carbon, but I can't understand why the Lambdas don't even offer Black, and I really wish GM used a different blue, like the new Imperial/Midnight or the Arrival/Electric Blue (see G6). Looks like it has a big presence on the road though-the Outlook XE I saw last week was easily the best modern GM product I've ever seen, surpassing even the Aura and the Sky.

I was never that wild about the somewhat bland body styling of the Magnum or of its unoriginal headlights (I'd prefer the Dodge car line to be styled after the 1999 Charger R/T concept car, rather than the current blocky, "tough" direction some have taken), but taking after the Hornet/Challenger concept grille isn't really something one should do. Still a hot car, if only because its a Dodge, it has a HEMI, and its painted Inferno Red.

Good riddance, the Vectra is and always has been a cheap-looking, undersized, boring and bland car inspired by mediocrity. Never seen one of course as I've never been to Europe or outside America Senior or Junior, but based on the pictures, its almost as boring as the current Malibu. Good to see Insignia moves forward-I hope the voluptuous exterior styling does as well.

Saw it yesterday-so far it lacks the boldness of all the new Dodge products-especially Nitro and Durango, which I expected JAC49 to resemble-or at the very least, a bigger Caliber. It doesn't even look as tough as the spectacular 2003 Kahuna concept car (it looks better in person, IMO).

WELCOME BACK AH-HA!!!! The grille in the photoshop looks like it is off-the lower part of Malibu's grille is lower-tiered than the headlights-at least that's what I'm seeing.

I think its an O/V/H S-MAX and/or Galaxy rival based on Epsilon II, am I right?

Welcome to Cheers and Gears, Biff! I was reading one of my 2006 issues of Consumer Guide (who I've gone by for 14 years), and upon reading, I noticed lots of bias not for Toyota, but for Honda. Yeah, we can pick on them for being bland in most cases, but then again so's most everyone else. My favorite auto enthusiast magazine is Automobile, though Motor Trend has improved a little bit, Car and Driver I'm not so crazy about, and Road and Track has always been different and interesting in its own right from the others. I like Automobile the best because of their future vehicle speculation (mostly, oddly from BMW and the VW/Audi/Porsche gang seemingly), but also their emphasis on design, and when Paul Lienert (before he went massively downhill) was writing future vehicle reports/speculation.

I think the reverse-I like the hatchbacks (and wagons) but the sedan looks awkward and the CC doesn't look that stylish to me for some reason-just a cross of "chunky bland" and "been-done-before".

I completely agree the Zafira should be sold here as a Saturn-Transponder, perhaps? Send Meriva over too, as the Saturn MON, and an S-MAX rival (Signum II at Opel/Vauxhall/Holden) and a Galazy rival, with the Relay badge in North America; Sintra elsewhere. I can see where GM has more important things to do, but if they do come back with monivans, heavily differentiate the Chevy and Buick versions, and leave it at those two divisions-they should be different in the same way Malibu/G6/Aura are, but not of course, as lousy as Malibu or G6.

Yeah giant windshields and panoramic roofs sound nice and innovative, but no thanks-I'll take a solid roof and regular windshield, please.

Now will there be a 1LT and 2LT, or is it 1LT only, or is GM smartening up and making only a single LT trim across the board? Nice entry into a small, significant, formerly-dead American staple.

So what, they're going to exit this market (that they pretty much created) entirely?