By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman

The wild success of the new Altima in 2002 turned Nissan from a troubled Japanese automaker at the turn of the century into one of the success stories in modern automotive history.

Nissan sold more than 200,000 of its mid-sized family sedans that year, and reached an all-time high in 2005 with 255,000 sales.

By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman

Mitsubishi’s extensive advertising of its new Eclipse sports coupe may be paying dividends. That’s good for Mitsubishi, because some say the Eclipse must be a success to save the troubled Japanese company in the U.S.

No matter how cloistered you might be, it’s hard to avoid both print and television ads proclaiming the virtues of the new sports car.

Most people, particularly young people, have some knowledge of the newest Eclipse.

By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman

We liked the original Mercedes M-class sport utility vehicle.

It performed as a luxury mid-sized SUV was expected to perform with decent though not brilliant performance in its base V-6 engine and satisfying power from its V-8 option. Decent on-road manners and a modicum of off-road prowess seemed about right for an upscale vehicle that seldom left the pavement. And maybe best of all for the suburban crowd, it had a car-like ride.

By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman

It was not many years ago when Mercedes-Benz sold only luxury sedans and sports cars, at least on U.S. soil.

Mercedes is still one of the world’s foremost builders of these vehicles for folks with higher disposal incomes than the vast majority of Americans.

More recently Mercedes has branched out becoming many things to many people — all still people of considerable means.

By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman

By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman

The original Honda Odyssey was one of our favorites as far as minivans of the era. It was small and agile, a compact minivan. It could be parked just about anywhere there was a sliver of a space. The third-row seat folded into the floor, an innovation at the time. It could haul six passengers in relative comfort — seven in a pinch — when the back seat was resurrected out of the floor.

By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman

When Lincoln introduced its entry-level luxury Zephyr sedan at the 2005 North American International Auto Show, officials said they were aiming it at customers as young as 35, about half the age of the typical Town Car buyer.

Listen up, Lincoln executives, because we have some news for you; astounding news in fact: First there was the girl in the McDonald’s drive-through, perhaps 19 years old. “What is that you’re driving,” she asked as she cranked herself out the window.

By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman

By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman

The new 2006 Lexus GS sports sedan is loaded with the latest in technological innovations, as you might expect with an all-new entry from Toyota’s premium brand.

By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman

Land Rover has added a stylish high-performance model to take on competitors such as the BMW X5, Mercedes M-Class, Porsche Cayenne and Volkswagen Touareg. And it takes them on well.