danup

I live in a college town and Prii are all over the place. They're nice, practical cars, and I'm a tech fan so I can get behind early adoption, but the Prius-vibe is just insufferable. I'd much rather drive a Camry or Escape hybrid or some other car that didn't shout "I'm the kind of person who scowls at people in V6 cars" from the heavens. Maybe I'll make my first million in time for the Volt.

C1 Focus is just extraordinarily bland. The bland glass in the back of the hatch turned it from extremely unique to every other hatch in the world. I don't deny it's a better car, but I prefer the US's unsuccessful attempt at edginess to the Europe look.

I think the 2010 Taurus's grille is ill-served by the grainy photo as far as its Daveness goes; I think they'll look less Plymouth Breeze and more 09 F-150 platinum once actual photos surface, which is more American-influenced. That said I wish the top two bars continued to the headlamps, a la the 2010 Fusion.

It's a shame they pulled the Envoy from production, aside from the Bravada it was the nicest looking of all those cars--and for a 2003 my parents' loaded one was really nice. The Trailblazer on the other hand... front and rear fascia look about a million years old, and they don't have that nice side-crease the other GMT360s share.

I just did a ten page research project on the Tata Nano, and the fact of the matter is that to retrofit it to fit US safety standards would more than double the price of the car, not to mention the fact that the $2500 version has no amenities whatsoever; even Indian buyers are expected to bump the price up, on average, to $4000. Combine that amenity bonus with more expensive manufacturing and safety retrofitting and an engine that can get up to highway speed and you have-- drumroll a Chevy Aveo. Sorry.

Major lower fascia improvement; I actually like the chrome front end but I definitely hope the foglamp integration etc. gets moved to the sedan, also.

Result: some nice detail work, a minor engine/transmission rework, and a really rice-y roof spoiler. I was hoping for an actual coupe greenhouse, but it's pretty attractive.

Isn't the current plan to replace the Ranger with both the F-100 and a new Ranger? (Also, the whole F-100-buy-an-old-F-150 thing is a fallacy because the thing that'll make a real gas mileage difference is the fact that the big V8s in those old 150s will be replaced with more fuel-efficient V6s with similar output.)

Why mess with inexplicable success? I'm less than enthused about these changes, because they probably mean introducing the boring Davenetic verve grille. I agree with the comments about lengthening the taillights, but I think the much-maligned front end has a lot to do with the success of this car.

Headlights are a little too generic Hondacura, but I love the Fusion profile and the grille is certainly better-integrated in this rendition.

Hey, you won't find any argument from me here. The Malibu, as much as I like my Fusion, is a better-executed car, since GM actually had worthwhile engines to give it. But I think CD3, having provided Ford with a best-selling CUV and a mid-size sedan that actually sells at retail more than once a month, still has to be considered a major success, and I think any rational person would see that. Which might be my problem. If you want to see a not-success, look in Chrysler's direction, or at the Five Hundred/Taurus, or the Saturn Aura, or Nissan's B and C cars. In any case, where was Ford going to get their Malibu, or the ad campaign money for that matter? Say what you will about the Mondeo's driving dynamics and its healing powers for young leukemia patients and the elderly, but it's not The Car You Can't Ignore. It's The Car You Can't Ignore If It's Sitting Next to a Contour, but Not an SVT Contour. (The five-month comparo isn't very informative, either, seeing as the Malibu was launched behind a massive and incredibly well-executed ad campaign.)

The Malibu seems like a pretty good example of what happens even if you do leapfrog the competition--they're still behind, and they're likely to remain so for this generation, just like Ford. The Fusion has its shortcomings--bland interior, even though it's well-appointed, and terrible engines--but like the Malibu it gave Ford a credible entry where there wasn't one before, and it's improved its sales every year leading into the mid-cycle refresh, which is a neat trick. I don't see how a well-reviewed, solid-selling, platform-shared car can be seen as a failure, and you're discrediting all of your other arguments about Ford's shortcomings by lumping the very successful CD3 platform in with them.

If Ford couldn't figure out a way to sell the New Edge Cougar I'm hesitant about their abilities to sell any coupe. That car still looks newer than most new cars.

To get back on topic: As someone who knows nothing about commercial vans, where does this slot in with the E-series?

I think people here really missed on the styling. It looks like a very young car, and unlike the overly "young" Scion etc. it seems like young people are actually buying them.

And that's... ... ... The rest of your real-time traffic update.

Here's hoping the second global Focus is as attractive as the first, and doesn't look anonymous like the C1 model. Something they did to the rear of that car makes it look like a Dodge Omni.

I like Mercury, but yeah, I can't think of anyplace it can go right now; any niche you can put it in is either too low-volume to bother, which is bad, or self-limiting for Ford, which is worse. Hybrid only? Well, Ford should have hybrids. Small cars? Well, Ford should have small cars. European cars? Well, Ford should globalize their platforms. Et cetera. As it stands now Ford can't afford to artificially keep the interiors on their volume cars a cut-and-a-half below Lincoln's. The only thing that would make sense is, well, to turn Merc into Volvo--a low-volume maker of boutique-y people-movers and effeminate luxo-cruisers. But a really nice full-size minivan, a Mercury S-Max, and the Sable/Sable-X do not a viable brand make.

Mercury needs to drop the Sable for the time being, there just isn't enough large sedan buyers to go around. Might as well refresh the GrandMa if the Sable can't consistently break 1000 sales; at least it would differentiate the lineups a little. If they're gonna keep Mercury around at all, they should rebadge a Focus, not a Taurus.

How dumb does Chrysler feel after axing the Neon? One macho hatch and one soon-to-be-discontinued effete, overpriced hatch do not a compact car lineup make, and all the money they spent establishing the Neon name is now completely worthless.

I grew up with the T-Bird as a long, low coupe, so that's obviously where my feelings lie even though I don't think it'd be very practical. I would love to see it as Ford's halo sedan; multiple engine choices, hybrid, sleek design, and--the coup de grace--a set of b-pillarless suicide doors. Of course, for a car like that to happen Ford will have to make a Lincoln that good first.

Craaap. I'm no Euro-basher, but the Fusion is a considerably more attractive vehicle than the Mondeo. Best profile Ford has designed in a long time; I was looking forward to NA getting a chance to evolve that high-belt/sharp-edged look into a second generation.

It at least does a better job of keeping some Focus design cues than the other mockups I've seen have. I like it, even in imagined toned-down flesh version.

It would take too much cash--cash better spent on Ford's current and upcoming products--to build a *star that wouldn't get its head kicked in by Chrysler and Honda, and it's not a big enough market to support a bunch of crappy half-efforts anymore.

I'm going to subdivide this a little more, and try to keep true-luxo out of it. Best looking: subcompact: This space for Fiesta parking only. compact: Honda Civic? No lookers now that the Focus hatch is dead. mid-size: Ford Fusion (the Altima and the Malibu are lookers, too, as is the G6 coupe.) full-size: Pontiac G8 or the refreshed LaCrosse truck: Chevy Silverado SUV: Chevy Tahoe CUV: Buick Enclave minivan: Honda Odyssey Worst looking: subcompact: Chevy Aveo sedan compact: Nissan Sentra mid-size: Toyota Camry (that front end is just bizarre.) full-size: Kia Amanti (worst looking period.) truck: current Dodge Ram (dig the new one, though.) SUV: Nissan Armada CUV: Chevy Equinox (it's not a bad car, or even an ugly one, just a dated car in a suddenly-contested market.) minivan: Toyota Sienna