By Jim Prueter
MotorwayAmerica.com

(September 24, 2019) The sub-compact luxury crossover utility vehicle market is extremely popular right now, and extremely competitive, with numerous choices for consumers. But a lot of these vehicles – like offerings from Mercedes-Benz, Audi, BMW and others – are very much alike, so styling becomes an imperative market differentiator.

By Jim Prueter
MotorwayAmerica.com

(September 19, 2019) Back in 1993, taking notice of the growing interest of sport utility vehicles in the U.S., Honda introduced their first SUV, called the Passport. That first Passport was absent any Honda DNA and was actually a badge engineered version of the now defunct Isuzu Rodeo, a mid-sized SUV.

The Passport was built in Lafayette, Ind., by Subaru Isuzu Automotive between 1994 and 2002 and was subsequently discontinued, giving way to the Honda-engineered Pilot.

By Jim Prueter
MotorwayAmerica.com

(September 13, 2019) GMC has just introduced its full line of heavy-duty trucks for 2020 at a media drive event in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Engineers at the event emphasized that the new trucks are the most capable heavy-duty truck they’ve ever built, and promised world-class towing capability, out muscling the likes of Ford Super Duty and Ram HD with a class leading maximum towing capacity of 35,500 pounds.

By Jim Prueter
MotorwayAmerica.com

(September 7, 2019) It was just a few years ago that the mid-size Nissan Altima was sedan the fifth best-selling vehicle in the U.S. behind nameplates like the Honda Accord, Toyota Camry sedans. But in the last couple of years sedans have mostly fallen out of favor with car shoppers who prefer SUVs, crossover utility vehicles and pickup trucks. And despite a vastly improved all-new sixth-generation Altima for 2019 with it’s significantly improved driving dynamics and sharp contemporary new styling sales have continued to fall and are down another 14 percent so far this year.

By Jim Prueter
MotorwayAmerica.com

(August 24, 2019) The Lincoln Aviator is an all-new three-row luxury SUV 2020 that positions itself between the larger Navigator and the smaller Nautilus SUVs. The Aviator name was previously used from 2002 to 2005, when it was essentially a Ford Explorer gussied up to look like a Lincoln Navigator. Buyers saw through what Lincoln was attempting and the vehicle never caught on.

By Jim Prueter
MotorwayAmerica.com

(August 20, 2019) There’s an ongoing debate and discussion among my automotive journalist colleagues about whether Acura is a premium or luxury brand. Personally, I’ve always come down on the premium side of the argument and along the way included Volvo, Cadillac, Lincoln, Genesis, and Tesla as premium rather than luxury.

By Jim Prueter
MotorwayAmerica.com

(August 19, 2019) We’ve always loved the boxy five-passenger, five-door, compact hatchback/crossover Kia Soul since it was introduced a decade ago. Now, for 2020, Kia has introduced its third-generation Soul, keeping all the things we love about the vehicle and fixing the few things we were hoping they would — all to keep the Soul one of Kia’s best sellers.

By Jim Prueter
MotorwayAmerica.com

(August 16, 2019) For 2019, Chevrolet has brought back the Blazer nameplate, affixing it to an all-new, two-row, five-passenger crossover utility vehicle targeting Ford Edge, Nissan Murano, and Jeep Grand Cherokee. It shares a platform with the three-row GMC Acadia and the compact Cadillac XT5. The Blazer slots between the smaller Equinox and the larger three-row Traverse.