cars in japan

Mercedes has thrown off the covers on the next generation of M-Class, its new challenger for the cutthroat luxury SUV class.

The big Merc has been an underwhelming prospect in the past, but Mercedes has reinvigorated the model with a sculpted look inherited from the current saloon line-up.

It’s slightly larger than the car it replaces, but the all-new underpinnings aren’t as interesting as the M-Class’s revamped engine range, which promises to improve economy by 25 per cent across the range.

The entry-level model will get the 201bhp 2.1-litre four-cylinder diesel lump capable of 47mpg while emitting 158g/km CO2. Read the rest of this entry »

Let’s play a word association game. Category: family sedans. Honda Accord: refined, efficient, ubiquitous. Chevy Impala: boring, homely, competent. Toyota Camry: phlegmatic, reliable, comfortable. Nissan Altima: powerful, edgy, atypical. Ford Taurus: Hertz, Budget, Payless. Mazda 626: Uh, do they still make that?

They did until recently, in niche-like numbers for the segment — Hyundai’s Sonata outsold the 626 last year. When we searched our archives for words describing the most recent 626, we didn’t find many flattering ones. Read the rest of this entry »

Sometimes I wonder how US Presidents used to get around. Before the invention of the limousine, the private jet, or even the car, what exactly set the President’s mode of transportation apart from the mode of the regular citizen?

Armored cars are now considered almost essential for all high-profile figures in dangerous parts of the world. A Presidential Limousine has become virtually synonymous with the word “Armored Car,” in essence it is a vehicle of hardcore protection.

The Presidential limousine may seem like a recent invention, something that came about within the past few Presidential terms. Read the rest of this entry »

A mainstream automotive brand pushes upmarket with a soberly styled, highly optioned luxury sedan. Didn’t we drive down this same road a few years ago with the Volkswagen Phaeton?

koda is debuting the new generation of its flagship, the Superb sedan, here at the

. Luckily, it’s unlikely that koda—VW’s Czech automotive brand—will aim as high as the $100,000 Phaeton did before it flopped and was pulled from the North American market.

The 2009 Superb is longer and wider and offers more luxury touches than ever before. Read the rest of this entry »

Date: Current Mileage/Months in Fleet: 40,000 miles/13 months

Average Fuel Economy/Range: 16 mpg/360 miles Service: $0 Normal Wear: Damage and Destruction: $3516 Our long-term test of the began with a more basic premise than have most of our other long-term tests. Usually, our objective is to find out what a car is like to live with for 40,000 miles, but with the X6, our goal was simply to find out

why a person would live with it for 40,000 miles. Read the rest of this entry »