Automotive News, Car Reviews, and Podcast
Google Gemini rolls out to 16 Volvo models from 2020 forward starting April 30, 2026. What changes for drivers, who qualifies, and whether conversational AI earns its dashboard real estate.
Read moreThe automotive industry is fixated on gas mileage averages, emission efficiency and alternative fuels that may one day make internal combustion engines the outliers. It’s all fine. Until then, here’s to the open road and full-size luxury sedans represented well by the six-year-old Genesis G90. Audi, BMW, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo are the aging stalwarts with loyalist buyers. Genesis is a confident newcomer, comfortable for its occupants and confident transporting them. It’s the young automotive endurance athlete, respectful of its European elders but perfectly capable of leading the pack if the opportunity arises. Offered as the 3.5T and 3.5T E-Supercharger, the 2023 Genesis in both trims is equipped with an eight-speed automatic transmission and all-wheel drive. The base trim V6
Read moreSelecting the cars of the year helps celebrate another year reviewing new cars and trucks, visiting auto shows and talking with vintage car owners, book authors and industry experts about their cars of the year. There are always great and not-so-great moments driving vehicles. The industry is always abuzz. There are always changes, oddball statistics, recalls and new models and makes. What has Elon Musk done now? Will autonomous driving and EVs ever make a significant difference? Will low-profile tires stop blowing while negotiating small divots in the road? Will Audi ever change its front-grille design? As much as the automotive industry changes, sometimes not much happens. In 2007, the year the iPhone debuted, the starting price of the Toyota
Read moreEarly in 2021, a teenage boy witnessed a colleague and me exit a 2021 Rolls-Royce Ghost at a local sandwich shop. He approached us, looked at my friend and said: “Excuse me, sir. What kind of job do I need to get to afford a car like that?” A few hours later while waiting in the Ghost at a stoplight two men in a vehicle to my right that may not have made it to its destination, caught my attention. Before the light changed, they uncorked a jubilant dance of synchronized hand signs and body gestures. I didn’t know what the display meant, but I’m certain it was a good thing. Far more expensive vehicles exist. But the Ghost, with
Read moreWelcome to the 14th annual Cars of the Year list, selected by TheWeeklyDriver.com. This year, co-host Bruce Aldrich and I announce the top-10 list on this week’s episode of The Weekly Driver Podcast. Bruce and I individually picked 10 vehicles from the nearly 40 cars and trucks in 2020 models I reviewed and Bruce drove. Neither of us was surprised. Our choices for cars of the year were nearly identical, including our No. 1 choice, the 2020 Corvette Stingray. Unlike many publications, we wait until the end of the year to announce our selections. A year’s perspective is important. Cars of the Year Here are The Weekly Driver Podcast’s choices for 2020 (with prices), followed by cars of the year
Read moreThe transportation saturation of SUVs and pickup trucks is ever-increasing. But the 2020 Lexus LS 500, the showcase vehicle in Toyota’s upscale division, is a fine reason why consumers should still consider sedans. Completely redesigned two years ago with a fifth generation, the 2020 LS 500 retains the full-size luxury sedan’s finer attributes. It combines an uber-quiet, comfortable ride, an interior designer’s finest skill and top-line technology. Key Takeaways 416-hp twin-turbo V6 pairs with a 10-speed automatic: The fifth-generation LS 500 reaches 60 mph from a standstill in 4.9 seconds while averaging 19 mpg city and 30 mpg highway on premium fuel. One trim level keeps configuration simple: Rear-wheel drive is standard, all-wheel drive is optional, and a hybrid version
Read moreWelcome to the 13th annual Best Cars and Trucks of the Year list, selected by TheWeeklyDriver.com. As is our logical way, we wait until the end of the year to name our selections. As in previous years, the 2019 choices were selected only from the list of 35-40 cars and trucks manufacturers provided for weekly reviews. Co-host Bruce Aldrich and I will discuss the list on The Weekly Driver Podcast. The 10 vehicles on the 2019 Best Cars, Trucks list include manufacturers from the United States, South Korea and Japan. The Weekly Driver has been writing about our main automotive vent for years. How do prestigious industry publications determine their vehicles-of-the-year selections before the calendar year starts? Selecting a list
Read moreConsumer Reports has long been recognized for its reliability to compile and present objective information. So who’s better than the service-oriented publication to provide lists of the most reliable and least reliable automakers? The publication’s annual reliability survey analyzed data in 17 areas from more than 500,000 vehicles. The areas for potential problems included interior wear-and-tear, transmission repairs and squeaky brakes. The annual list usually has surprises and this year is no exception. Volvo was the least reliable career in this year tabulations. The reason: The Swedish-made, Chinese-owned manufactured dropped six places from last year and had an average reliability score of 22. Volvo owners complained about three models was the S90. Its issues ranged from screen freezes and a
Read moreStations wagons were all the rage 75 years ago. The 1941 Chrysler Town and Country bubble-back design had a cavernous interior and featured top-line woodgrain paneling. It was the most expensive vehicle in carmaker’s lineup and cost $1,495. Much has happened since. Somewhere in recent years, manufacturers began to believe the word station was a disservice as a prefix to the word wagon. Mercedes-Benz has estate wagons. Audi has the all-road. Volkswagen has its SportWagen. It’s all new lingo far-removed from the name station wagon, the name given to the spacious but trunkless vehicles used to carry multiple occupants and their luggage to train stations. The 2017 V90 Cross Country is the new station wagon from Volvo. But like every
Read moreTheWeeklyDriver.com presents its 11th annual best cars of the year list. For the past two years, we selected 12 vehicles instead of 10 because we couldn’t decide what cars to leave off the lists. The selection was more clear-cut this year, so we’ve again chosen 10 vehicles. Volvo is the only manufacturer with two vehicles on the 2017 best cars list. Bentley, Genesis, Honda, Kia, Lincoln, Mazda, Volkswagen and Toyota are also represented. As editor and publisher of TheWeeklyDriver.com since 2004, I reviewed 38 cars and trucks in 2017 model years for at least a week. Most of the vehicles I drove in the calendar year; some 2017 models in 2016. I also drove at least a half-dozen other vehicles
Read moreThe Geneva International Motor Show is arguably the most important car event of the year. In addition to new model debuts, the Car of the Year is selected. This year marks the 54th year of the honor. The announcement will be made Monday, March 6 at 3 p.m. local time in Switzerland. Among 29 original candidates, seven finalists were selected last November after a week of testing in Denmark. The finalists for the sixth Car of the Year celebration during the Geneva International Motor Show include: Alfa Romeo Giulia, Citroën C3, Mercedes E-Class, Nissan Micra, Peugeot 3008, Toyota C-HR and Volvo S90/V90. The finalists were tested again in Denmark. The Car of the Year honor is organized by seven of
Read moreWhile some cars’ legacies continue for decades, through many generations and fluctuating sales years, other cars have short tenures and disappear as new models quickly in the ever-crowded marketplace. It was no different at the end of 2016. Some highly reviewed cars and some not-so-well reviewed vehicles won’t be available as 2017 models. As such, we say goodbye and farewell to at least 10 vehicles with 2016 as their final years. Will any of them become collectors’ items? Or, will they simply fade into an automotive graveyard somewhere and resurface as “barn finds” decades from now. Either way, here’s a look at 10 cars manufacturers stopped making after their respective 2016 models. Cars listed with hyperlinks were reviewed in at
Read moreImagine a Swedish-built sedan trying to infiltrate the luxury market dominated by BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Audi? Welcome the 2017 Volvo S90. The new flagship replaces the Volvo S80 as a slightly wider and longer offering. Its sleek exterior design features take Volvo further past its former reputation. It’s no longer a manufacturer of sturdy but stodgy vehicles only at their best Scandinavian winters. Offered with a 2.0-liter, four-cylinder, turbocharged engine, the Volvo S90 is offered in T5 and T6 models. The latter was my weekly driver, and it’s the more powerful with 316 horsepower while utilizing the turbocharger and supercharger. Both models have eight-speed automatic transmissions, with the T5 front-wheel drive and the T6 all-wheel drive. As expected in luxury
Read more