SEATTLE, Wash. — Now ladies and gentleman please closely observe our final — and best — magic trick of the afternoon. Our driver is about to drive the all-new 2016 Toyota Tacoma into this huge pile of loose sand where he will bury the truck up to its axles. Then we will hook a tow rope to the rear and pull the buried truck out of the mess it has created. Actually, ladies and gentlemen, no such assistance will be needed.

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. — When Shakespeare posed the question, “What is in a name?” he could have had the all-new Mazda CX-3 in mind. You see, in terms of size and handling, it’s a crossover in name only. Mazda’s 3 sedan is seven inches longer and nearly three inches wider than the CX-3. Mazda suits — well, most of them don’t wear suits — tell us that the CX-3 really has more in common with the Mazda2 than the 3. In the long run, though, does it really matter? Nah.

ANN ARBOR, Mich.  — In the past year, car registrations have dropped 3.9 percent while light truck registrations have increased by 10.7 percent. Why then have Hyundai’s crossover utility vehicle sales fallen 14.5 percent over that same period? “The U.S. market is currently 56 percent truck and CUV,” says Dave Zuchowski president and CEO of Hyundai Motor America, “and this has made it hard for us to keep our sales momentum. It’s not that we don’t have the capacity to build these vehicles. It’s that we have to reallocate our current production from cars to light trucks.”

SAN FRANCISCO — Sales of Mitsubishi's Outlander were up 6 percent in the first half of 2015 compared to 2014. The second half of the year should bring even more success to Mitsubishi's largest vehicle in North America with a considerably refreshed 2016 edition now reaching showrooms. And more good news arrived early in July when Cars.com ranked the compact crossover the most affordable three-row in America based on sales price, fuel cost, and five-year residual value.

CINCINNATI, Ohio — What exactly makes an outstanding family crossover? What traits must it possess in our ever-evolving world in the areas of safety, information, and drivetrain? We pondered this question the other day and came up with a short answer — the 2016 Honda Pilot. The Pilot is vitally important to Honda, pointed out by the work put into developing an all-new third-generation vehicle that will put the Pilot back in the conversation when discussing which is the best full-sized family crossover on the North American market.

DETROIT — Maxima is many things to Nissan. It is Nissan’s longest running, continuously offered nameplate, and the leading large V6-powered sedan (in terms of retail sales) in the U.S. Though referred to as Nissan’s “4-Door Sports Car” (4DSC), it competes with a variety of plain and sporting sedans; everything from the Acura TLX, Audi A4 2.0T, BMW 328i, and Lexus IS to the Buick Lacrosse, Chevy Impala, Chrysler 300, Ford Taurus, and Toyota Avalon.

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. — With a rolling bed of on-board advanced technologies, Hyundai Motors first took the wraps off of the all new 2016 Sonata hybrid and its sister product, the Sonata Plug-in hybrid, earlier this year at the Detroit International Auto Show. The 2016 version is here now and will soon go on sale representing the seventh generation of the award-winning and attractive sedan, and by far the most fuel efficient.

SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Officially the 2015 Ford Focus is a new model. In reality it’s really more of a facelift. But it’s worthwhile as it now has the same nicely stylish face that has made the Fusion, Focus’s larger sibling, such a hit with those who enjoy owning a good-looking car. There’s nothing wrong with making small cars look attractive and that’s just what Ford has managed with this new so-called Face of Ford style.

LOS ANGELES — By early summer the all-new 2016 Volvo XC90 will be rolling into a showroom near you. Volvo is referring to the next generation XC90 as “all new” because almost nothing but its name has been carried over from the 2014 version. Some might take issue with the term all new, as opposed to “totally redesigned,” but Volvo makes a pretty convincing argument for this choice.

INDIANAPOLIS — Honda found out the hard way that just because it put a fancy suit and snooty logo on the working-class Civic didn’t make a luxury car.  We’re talking about the ILX, which shares architecture and assembly space with the venerable compact Honda.  Early ILXs were noisy, rode harsh, and weren’t up to their price.  In fact, many felt the Civic Si was a better all-around car for less coin.  For 2016, the ILX trades sass for substance.