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 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 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 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
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