The Car Guru 4

Volvo drops S40 and V50 from U.S. lineup Speaking for the sedan, I don't think it's poor sales were due to our preferences; I quite liked the little S40. But Volvo ignored it and it's been basically the same since 2004. If they would have given it the same facelift given to the C30 then sales would have greatly increased, without it people just forgot about it.

Lincoln promises to match BMW & Lexus, make pigs fly @ zot959; I'm afraid that ship has sailed, Ford has already made the transition to europonize their line-up, and their adamant on change. Not that I don't agree with you, it would be impossible to erase 100 years of a brand's proud history just to switch from American to German. Change is a necessity though, the "fancy Ford" idea is long in the tooth; instead, Lincoln should adopt a style that's distinctive (unlike their 70s-90s models) but not flashy (unlike today's Lincolns), like the 30s Zephyr or the Mk ll Continental. Quality is top priority, which is a something Lincoln has lacked for quite sometime; so long that it's pounded into our impressions of their cars. In order to defeat this Ford has to take a financial hit and put exceeding attention to their cars (to the point of ridiculousness (think polished aluminum trunk hinges)), to prove their commitment to the brand. Think of it as an investment that costs today, but benefits tomorrow. Lastly, they need to sell the car, not the cheap novelty in car refrigerators and back-up cameras, but a car that doesn't need these tricks to impress the driver. It's obvious when a car brand thinks of the driver over the profits, BMW has done it, Cadillac is just starting to, and it's the only thing that will convince us of Lincoln's enlightenment.

Hyundai Blue Will concept headed for production - report I'll bet $10 that this'll just be a hybrid Veloster, not a separate model of its own. But that wouldn't be a bad thing.

2012 Kia Rio sedan and facelifted Soul revealed in New York The Rio looks like it's trying to sneeze...violently.

2012 Nissan Versa sedan bows in the Big Apple [video] I now understand everything. I have always been against the latest trend of carmakers, one that dictates every new car to be bigger, fatter, and thus heavier. I now see the method to their madness. Unless taking the quirky route MINI and VW have, the only way to make a cheap, small car not look, er, cheap and small is to blow it up, feed it some extra grain. The only way to make a small car not look small is to make it big, genius! But Nissan have somehow porked up their small car and STILL make it look flimsy and small. Worse still, it seems the Chinese version go the much better interior. Angry Nissan, angry indeed.

VW Beetle debuts - Beetle R speculation begins I'm seeing a great new competitor to the MINI, and the R will finally give the S some competition (if we're to be honest the Cooper S could never really keep up with the GTI or the Mazda Speed3). Small, retro, quirky; all the adjectives for the MINI.

2012 Volkswagen Beetle revealed [videos] Shagadelic indeed. A true competitor to the retro-schick MINI; but there lies a problem. Women adored the last Beetle but now, with the extra dose of testosterone, VW have lost many of their Ladybug fans. But on the other side, the Beetle name has such a feminist stigma that men will be too afraid to drive it. I hope I'm wrong though, this Beetle is too cool to shut down.

Lotus City Car approved for production It's all about those darn CAFE regulations, which, in my world, are completely ironic. They force car brands to improve their average gas mileage, so car makers build tons of these econoboxes to boost up their ratings. How does that help? All that did was put more cars on the road and gasoline in the air. Doesn't that go against environmentalists' pita bread grain? If I'm wrong someone explain it to me please.

MINI Paceman concept announced for NAIAS [video] Only Mini could pull off some wood trim and leather door handles these days; It looks fantastic, especially from the side.

2011 Chrysler 300 revealed Not much of a re-haul in the looks department, that being said though, it didn't really need one. The deciding factor for the 300 is the interior.