Why Can't America Have More Diesel Cars

In America we have always had huge cars that used lots of gas and until recently, low gas prices. Now gas is over $4.00 a gallon and the cars we drive are just too wasteful, but Europe has for a long time had a great solution, diesel cars. They used to be slow and dirty, but now they have turbochargers on all the diesels. That means diesel cars are now fuel efficient and just as fast as normal gasoline cars. The biggest problem with diesels was that they had bad smog emissions, but the new ones have urea filters that burn off the harmful sulfur and CO2 emissions.

In Europe people drive much smaller, more fuel efficient, and usually slower cars than we do. In Europe a fast car does 0-60mph in under 9 seconds, but here a fast car does 0-60 in under 7 seconds. That is silly when you spend a lot of time sitting in traffic and never need to do 0-60 in less than 10 or 11 seconds. Here a fuel efficient car gets over 30 mpg on the highway, but in Europe a fuel efficient car gets over 40mpg average between city and highway and are almost always diesel.

A good family car here is usually a SUV that gets less than 20mpg or a big minivan (they should be called bigivans and the huge Ford E-Series type van should be called trucks with an ugly box on top) that gets less than 25mpg. In Europe a good family family car is a small, but very practical diesel MPV. the Opel Zafira has 7 seats, a great chassis, lots of space, got a 5 star crash test rating, and gets 37mpg combined (average between city and highway) with a 150hp 1.9L 4 cylinder turbo diesel (0-60 in 9.7 seconds). Another great family car is a Mondeo based large MPV, the Ford S-Max and even larger Ford Galaxy. It drives very well, has a huge cargo area, has 7 seats (the third row is very good), was only 1 point away from beating the EuroNCAP crash test (the S-Max got 36 points, the Galaxy got 35 points, and 33 or higher is 5 stars), gets 35 mpg combined with the and does 0-60 in under 9 seconds both with the 173hp 2.2L turbo diesel 4 cylinder engine. In Europe the wonderful real new Ford Focus can get 54mpg combined with a 110hp 1.6L-4 turbo diesel and still does 0-60 in under 11 seconds. The best gas mileage you will find is the Seat Ibiza Ecomotive/Volkswagen Polo BlueMotion that both get 61mpg combined, but they are quite slow, 0-60 takes 12.8 seconds. These diesels are just what we need here since things like fuel cell, which in development and electric cars, which are too horribly unsafe, meaning diesel is the only existing good solution.

The Reason Chrysler is in Trouble

Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors are all having trouble selling cars here, but I think Chrysler is doing the worst. GM has started making better cars and makes very good cars in Europe and Australia. Ford is improving here and for a long time has made very good cars in Europe and Australia. Chrysler isn't doing nearly enough to improve their cars and in Europe and Australia has the same cars as here. Chrysler, Jeep, and Dodge are all the same company, but they make too many of the same cars. They don't make any cars that stand out in their classes as very good. Their biggest problem is quality. All the plastics in their cars seem cheap and flimsy. The small cars, the Chrysler PT Cruiser and Dodge Caliber are both very far behind the best cars in their class. The PT Cruiser is an old design that was never very good and the Caliber has bad engines (the 2.4L is okay), a terrible chassis, and poor quality. The midsize cars are almost as bad, the Chrysler Sebring and Dodge Avenger are the same car, but neither one is good. They share a chassis with the Mitsubishi Lancer, Outlander, the Dodge Caliber and Jeep Compass/Patriot, but the Mitsubishi's are better. The Sebring/Avengers are let down by bad handling, they are bad to drive, have poor quality, and the 2.7L V6 is bad, but the 3.5L V6 is good. The Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger are good cars, but the Pontiac G8 is much better and they aren't good enough for Europe and Australia, but their biggest problems are bad quality and an old chassis from the old Mercedes E-Class. The Chrysler Crossfire is based off an old Mercedes SLK that was never a good car and the Dodge Viper has huge 8.3L v8 that only has 510hp (2008 models are larger and have 600hp) and has no luxuries or sensibility in it at all. The Dodge Durango/Chrysler Aspen are some of Chrysler's biggest problems, because they have rigid axle, a very bad chassis, wasteful engines, and questionable safety. The Dodge Dakota that the Durango is based off is even worse, because it has bad safety and isn't as useful as the Nissan and Toyota pickups. The Dodge Ram is improved, but is still an old design that can't keep up with the Nissan Titan, Chevy Silverado/GMC Sierra, and the class leader, the Toyota Tundra. The Jeep Grand Cherokee, Commander, Liberty, and Dodge Nitro all have the same problem, the worst one being their lack of side torso airbags that meant the best they could get in the IIHS side crash test was Marginal, a failing rating if you ask me. They also drive like trucks because of their ancient rigid axles, but the worst of these SUV's is by far the Jeep Liberty, but the Nitro isn't far off. The Jeep Compass/Patriot suffer from the same quality problems as the Dodge Caliber. The Jeep Wrangler is one of their only cars that is good, because it is very good at what it was designed for, off-road driving, but with the availability of 4 doors, a proper roof, and tons of space it is okay as an on road vehicle. The Wrangler is even safe enough that I would buy one, because it can have side torso airbags (it got marginal without side airbags, but can have front head and torso combination airbags). The Dodge Journey is the first really good car they have made in a long time (the 300C was very good before the Pontiac G8 came). It has a great 235hp 3.5L V6, a practical design that has lots of ideas borrowed from European MPV's and it looks pretty good. The new Dodge Grand Caravan and the new Chrysler Town & Country are quite good, the still don't drive very well, but only the Honda Odyssey does. The two minivans still can have the wonderful Stow'n'Go seats or the rather silly Swivel'n'Go system. The 425hp Challenger SRT-8 is much better than the 500hp Shelby GT500, because of a modern suspension instead of the GT500's ancient rigid axle that is only acceptable in trucks now. Chrysler will have a harder time improving now that they separated from Mercedes, but with good management and smart people running it they could do well. Right now the reason Chrysler is in trouble is their cars aren't very competitive and their quality is poor.

The New Mazda 6, Will it Work

The old Mazda 6 was a good car, but in Europe it was much more of a success than here. They never sold as well as the Accord or Camry here, partly because the engines were only 156hp for the  2.3L-4 and 210hp in the 3.0L V6. The competitors had more power, more space, better quality and cost less. The new 6 is much better. In Europe it has gotten very good reviews even with a 2.0L 4 cylinder that, with only 140hp, we aren't getting and a 140hp 2.0L 4 cylinder turbo diesel that we won't, but should get. In Australia with the new 170hp 2.5L in line 4 (an enlarged 2.3L from the old 6, the 5, and the 3) the 6 has been praised by Wheels and Motor magazines for its great handling, comfortable ride, and being an all around great car. We are going to get a lengthened version of the sedan that other markets get. At this time there is no plan for a hatchback or the great looking station wagon. I hope we will get the wagon, because it look just as good, if not better than the normal versions and has lots of space. The engines we will get should be very good. Along with the new wonderful 2.5L 4 cylinder engine we will get a 272hp 3.7L V6 (an enlarged Ford 3.5L V6) from the CX-9. The V6 version will be very fast and its chassis can handle the power, but that much power could be a problem. A trend I am noticing is front wheel drive cars getting  more power than should really be put out through the front wheels. The next Acura TL will have over 300hp (it is the only one in this list that can handle that power), the Dodge Caliber SRT-4 has 285hp, and General Motors has tried putting a 303hp 5.3L V8 in the front drive Buick LaCrosse Super (300hp), Chevy Impala SS, and Pontiac Gran Prix GXP. The new Mazda 6 that we will get is 193in. long, so it can compete with the 194in. long Honda Accord. The Mazda 6 we are getting has a different rear end, that is larger than the versions in other markets and looks quite good, much better than an Accord (good, but slightly overdone) or Camry (very, very boring). As good as the V6 version will be, I think the 4 cylinder version is the better choice when gas costs over $4.00 a gallon. The 4 cylinder car will be more than capable of being good to drive and quick enough for anything most people will want to use it for. It would be great if Mazda could bring the new 175hp 2.2L 4 cylinder turbo diesel (from their owners, Ford) here. I think this car will only be beat by the wonderful Volkswagen Passat and the Honda Accord may be better with the 190hp 2.4L EX 4 cylinder and for some luxury features. This could become the best in class car and that could only happen because, like the current best in class car (the Volkswagen Passat) it is from European markets.

Some Practical Sports Cars for Under $45k

My article on sports cars under $45,000 had cars with one major problem, they weren't practical enough for most people. There are some cars that aren't quite sports cars, but fast, fun, and usable have back seats and roomy trunks. The Mazda RX-8 is very practical with suicide doors and a roomy back seat, but is also fast, rear wheel drive, and it handles well. The BMW 135i is also a very good sports car with 300hp and a great rear drive chassis, but has rear seats and a big trunk all for $35,000 or $39,000 for the convertible. The 135i is almost the same for performance as the old BMW M3, the 135i does 0-60 in 4.7 seconds and the M3 does it in 4.8 seconds, but the 135i is much safer and has more modern features. A 2006 M3 is available for $43,000 as a coupe, but it really doesn't make sense when BMW has the 135i and 335i. The BMW 335i is very practical and available as a coupe ($41,000) or sedan ($39,000) and in RWD or AWD  ($2,000 over RWD), with 300hp. The 335i does 0-60 in 5.2 seconds and has one of the best chassis in the world, meaning it drives extremely well, but the convertible is very bad because it's too heavy, too expensive, and failed the side crash test from IIHS. The Infiniti G37 is  a big problem for these BMW's, because for $36,000 you can have a 330hp G37 Sport with all the handling improvements that Infiniti has like rear wheel active steer. The G37 has more space than the BMW's and drives just as well as either the 135i or 335i. If you want an American muscle car the new Dodge Challenger SRT-8 has 425hp for $38,000, but they are all sold, so the only way to find one is somebody reselling it for around $60,000. The next Chevy Comaro will drive better than the Challenger, because it has the wonderful Holden Commodore VE platform and 400hp, not the decade old Mercedes E-Class platform. The Ford Mustang should be avoided until Ford puts an independent rear suspension in (the 2010 update will still use the rigid axle) even with the new engines. Hyundai is bringing out the Genesis Coupe with a RWD platform, a 300+hp V6 or 400+hp V8, for a low price, but if you can live with a Hyundai symbol on the front this will be a good car. If you want an AWD and high performance the new Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X is very fast (291hp,0-60 in about 4.8 seconds), now comfortable, practical, has 4 doors, a 5 speed manual (in the $32000 GSR), a wonderful new 6 speed automated manual (in the much better $38,000 MR). There is also the 305hp Subaru Impreza WRX STI for $35,000, but it is now too soft and no more comfortable than the Evo X. The Volkswagen R32 is a very good car, but for $33,000 its 250hp and no back doors the Evo X is faster, more practical, and costs the same as the R32. If you want a luxury coupe a 2004 Jaguar XKR has 390hp for under $40,000, but the 335i and G37 are much better. If I had to choose one of these cars I think the BMW 135i is probably the best, but the Infiniti G37 is a better deal.

Why Can't We Get Supermini Hot Hatches

In Europe superminis are very popular, because they are small, easy to park, fuel efficient, and inexpensive. The new superminis can get 5 star crash test ratings from EuroNCAP and are good to drive. They are even avialable with turbocharged engines that make them fast and very fun. These supermini hot hatches were started in the early 1980's with the Renault 5 Turbo. At the time it was an ordinary French supermini that had the engine moved to were the back seats were in the normal car and rear wheel drive. Bigger hot hatches like the Volkswagen GTI came first. Renault also used the 5 Turbo as a rally car with 350hp, the 5 Turbo later became a front engine and FWD hatchback. The best of these cars was the Peugeot 205 GTI from the early 1990's, it wasn't very powerful (only 130hp), but very light meaning they were very fast and huge fun to drive. In 1995 Renault brought out the Clio Williams which was a tiny hatchback, much like the 205 GTI, but with more power, less made, and better handling. Renault and Peugeot continued to make these supermini hot hatches with the 206 GTI, Clio 172, Clio 182, and mid engine RWD Clio V6 (227hp for 2001-2002 and 255hp for 2003-2006 cars). Citroen brought out the C2 VTS with 125hp in 2004, Ford has the 150hp Fiesta ST, Seat (part of Volkswagen) has the 180hp Ibiza Cupra, the 150hp Volksagen Polo GTI, and one of the best deals (also a great car) available is the 123hp Suzuki Swift Sport. Fiat is bringing out Abarth versions of the new 500 (135hp) and Grande Punto (150-175hp), both of which will be great cars. The best of the new supermini hot hatches (besides the two new Fiats) are the 175hp Peugeot 207 GTI, 192hp Opel/Vauxhall Corsa VXR, the 173hp Mini Cooper S, and the best one of all the 197hp Renaultsport Clio 197 and even better the Clio Cup. Of these cars we only get the Mini Cooper S, which is an extremely fun to drive car, but not as good as the Clio. All four of those cars got 5 star crash tests along with the two Fiats. As a whole I think North America needs Renault to come back and the Renaultsport Clio is just one of their great cars. Many of these fast and fun to drive superminis are great cars.

Hard Top Convertibles Become Popular

More and more convertibles are being brought out and lots of them are hard tops. The problem is by putting a hard metal roof in a convertible is very heavy, expensive, and cloth roofs are just as quiet and waterproof. A problem with all convertibles is that by taking the roof off a coupe the chassis and structure lose much of their rigidity. That ruins a car's handling and in IIHS crash test of mid size convertibles these cars become weak and unsafe unless lots of heavy and expensive strengthening is put in. The Pontiac G6 convertible crumpled worse at the front than the sedan, the back end twisted around, and the dummy's head ended up hitting the dashboard. These convertibles also have trouble in the side crash test, because it is very hard to put head protection airbags in and the side airbags aren't very effective as the BMW 3 series and Audi A4 convertibles proved when they got marginal side crash test ratings (coupe, sedan, and wagon version were rated good). making a hard top convertible also requires a long rear end that will look weird. The new Volvo C70 is the only 4 seat hard top convertible that really looks good, but has terrible steering. The Volkswagen Eos is almost the only reasonably priced  4 seat hard top convertible that drives well and is safe. In Europe they get Renault Megane, new Ford Focus, and Opel Astra hard top convertibles that all drive well, are affordable, safe and great looking. I think the new Audi A3 soft top convertible is probably one of the best small convertibles. It is great looking, has the same dimensions as the A3 hatchback, well priced, and has great engines. The A3 convertible is in many ways a slightly better looking VW Eos. However the Eos has more space and a bigger trunk. The Mini Cooper convertible will be one of the best around once the new on is brought out, it is very fun to drive. The best hard top convertibles are probably the Mercedes SL and SLK, but they are very expensive. I think that soft top convertibles are still very good and because they fold up into a small space they look better than hard tops.

Sports cars under $45k

Lots of people want to buy sports cars and there happens to be a lot available. I have found some very good sports cars for less than or close to $45,000. The Audi TT is now a great sports car and for almost $43,000 you can have the 250hp 3.2L V6 in the TT. The new TT has a magnetic suspension that gives it great handling in the sport setting or a comfortable and soft ride in the comfort setting. The BMW Z4 3.0si coupe is $40,400 or the roadster is $42,400 and they both have a 255hp 3.0L in line six cylinder engine. The Z4 is also rear wheel drive and is fun to drive. The base model Corvette LT1 has 430hp (2005-2007 cars had 400hp), costs just under $47,000 and is good to drive now unlike the old ones. Used Corvettes with 400hp are available with more features for less money. One of the best sports cars in the world is the 237hp Honda S2000 and $34,000 buys one new or for $36,000-$37,000 you can have the lightened S2000 CR (Club Racer). This car is more fun to drive than almost any other sports car. The Porsche Boxster is $46,000 for a new 245hp base model or for $42,000 you can have a 280hp 2006 Boxster S. The Boxster is mid engined and therefore is better to drive than all but the very very expensive supercars. For much less than $45,000 the $29,000 Saturn Sky Red Line/Pontiac Solstice GXP with 260hp beat the BMW Z4 roadster in a Motor Trend comparison. If you want a luxury sports car a 320hp, Corvette based 2005 Cadillac XLR is now worth $42,000 and a 302hp 2003 Mercedes-Benz SL500 is under $45,000. A 355hp 2006 Mercedes-Benz SLK55 AMG is a great mix of luxury coupe/roadster and sports car for $41,000. The Lotus Elise, probably the best sports car in the world can be found for under $40,000 as a 2006 car with 190hp and it does 0-60 MPH in under 5 seconds. A 2003 Porsche 911 Carrera Coupe (the convertible is terrible) with 315hp is a great car and now are worth about $44,000. These cars are all great, but I think the best one is the Honda S2000. You need to buy the S2000 before Honda kills it, like they did with the NSX.

The Problem With Hybrids

Gas prices are causing many people to change cars and one of the most popular options is hybrids. They get better gas mileage than normal gasoline cars and most are still practical. Now that gas is over $4.00 per gallon the amount of money you pay up for a hybrid can be made up quicker through gas savings. These cars can be made much better in lots of ways. A Toyota Prius gets about 45 MPG, but that is only 3-4 MPG better than a Volkswagen Jetta 2.0 TDI. They need to make a diesel hybrid, that would get over 60 MPG. Toyota could easily do that, just take a Camry or Corolla, put their 135hp 2.0D-4D engine in, and their hybrid batteries in the car. 

Almost all the hybrids have problems with them that ruin most of these cars. The Toyota Pruis has a terrible ride, is $2,000 overpriced, and shudders over bumps, bumps that in most small cars you wouldn't notice. The Pruis also has only 110hp (using both gas and electric engines), but a base model Corolla has 22hp more and similar equipment for $6,000 less. The Ford Escape/Mazda Tribute/Mercury Mariner hybrids can't have stability control, but the normal versions have it as standard equipment. That means these SUV's can flip over simply by  swerving at 35 MPH (the Escape without ESP failed the tip test in the government crash tests). The Lexus GS450h has a trunk the size of a shoebox and the LS600h gets worse gas mileage than a LS460. There are good hybrids though, for example the Chevy Tahoe/GMC Yukon hybrids are the best versions of those vehicles. The Chevy Malibu/Saturn Aura hybrids, Toyota Camry hybrid, Nissan Altima hybrid, and Honda Civic hybrid are all good cars and make sense as alternatives to the normal cars. The only real way hybrids can be a solution to high gas prices is to make diesel hybrids.

Is Volkswagen Serious About the US?

Volkswagen is a great car company and has great cars. They have not just Volkswagen, but Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Seat, Skoda, and some truck companies. In the U.S. we don't get Seat or Skoda, which is a shame. Seat has the Leon and Altea, which are less expensive and larger versions of the Golf (called the Rabbit here) and the wonderful new Ibiza super mini. Skoda has the Octavia, an inexpensive sedan like Golf based hatchback. They also have a version of the new Passat with a hatch that also woks as a trunk lid, for a great price and there is a very practical and inexpensive MPV (a small minivan often with car doors) called the Roomster. Volkswagen sells very good cars here, the Passat has only the best engines it is available with, except the 170hp 2.0TDI. The Rabbit and Jetta are were Volkswagen is going wrong, the 170hp 2.5L-5 (was 150hp before 2008) is one of their worst engines. In Europe VW has a 140hp or 170hp 1.4L-4 with a turbocharger and a supercharger (called TSI) to get great gas mileage with great power, we need that engine here so the Rabbit will get better gas mileage than the GTI. They could also use their 150hp 2.0L-4 FSI if the TSI won't work. Volkswagen is finally bringing us a new diesel to replace the old 90hp 1.9TDI. We are getting a very good 140hp 2.0TDI that gives the Jetta over 40 MPG. That is a huge improvement, because Europe has that same engine with either 140hp or 170hp. Even with the GTI we only get the 200hp car, but Europe can have a 230hp GTI. We aren't getting the new Scirocco either, which is dumb, because the old one was good here and the Mini has been very successful here. In some of Europe there is a car called the Crossgolf with AWD and a higher ground clearance, like the very popular crossovers, but much more practical. Almost every car they sell or don't sell here needs more engines from Europe or need to be brought here.

Mercedes CLC or Just Old C-Class Sport Coupe

Mercedes-Benz has recently brought out a new coupe version of the C-Class, called the CLC. The car has the same front end as the new C-Class, but is otherwise the old car. That means Mercedes is selling a car originally introduced in 2001, now sold as "all new" in 2008. This car therefore is now pretty much terrible. The old C-Class was never very good anyway, but now it can be beat by almost any possible competitor. It will lose to even the front wheel drive competitors. The Audi A3 for example is much better and so is the much less expensive Volkswagen GTI. The BMW 1 series is also rear wheel drive and would destroy the CLC if they were compared. Even a Ford Focus ST or Mondeo 2.5T in Europe are better car, meaning the very similar and the CLC's competitor, the Volvo C30 is also much much better. The Mazda RX-8, which is rear wheel drive and priced close enough to the CLC to compete with it, is too good to really compete with the CLC. The Alfa Romeo Brera will beat the CLC as well and even Mercedes' own A-Class is better. The list of cars that are better goes on and on. Mercedes is usually smart enough not to do this, but this time they decided they could trick people into buying an old car that seems to be new. They have decided to be cheap.

Are Subcomact Cars Any Good?

With higher fuel prices people are downsizing to get higher gas mileage. There are lots of cars they can choose, used cars, subcompacts, hybrids, and the best one of diesels. There aren't very many diesel and most are rather expensive. Hybrids are also too expensive and you almost never will make up the cost premium over a normal car in gas savings. Used cars aren't likely to get that great of gas mileage, because they would be larger. That leaves subcompacts as the only real solution that works well enough. There are lots and even more of them coming. There will be a sedan version of the next Ford Fiesta that comes here and will be very good, especially if we get a diesel version. Honda is bringing out a new Fit, that will also be very good, but the current one is still a good car. The Mini Cooper is an absolutely great car, but is expensive and makes sense as a sports car in the Cooper S version, but the Clubman is just silly. The Mini would be great for fuel economy as the diesel version sold in Europe that gets over 60 mpg on the highway. The Smart Fortwo is only good for cities, because its gas mileage is the same as a Honda Civic. The Toyota Yaris seems like a good car, but has a terrible old design and overall is a bad car. The Nissan Versa is a wonderful car, it has great gas mileage, is very practical, and got good crash test ratings from IIHS in frontal, side, and whiplash protection tests. The Chevy Aveo is a terrible car, it's unsafe, has bad quality, and has a terrible chassis, it's useless. The KIA Rio/Hyundai Accent are fairly good, but got terrible crash test ratings. The Scion xD is very good, safe, inexpensive, practical, and fairly fun. The problem these cars have is there are small cars that are safer, more fun, and just as fuel efficient. These are at least much better than the older subcompacts, which were almost all terrible and they are getting much better.

The Chinese Can't Make Cars

The Chinese have decided that along with making most of the things we buy here they should make cars. The first ones were just parts taken from lots of other cars that were put together to look like the real cars. There was one that looks like a BMW X5 and Geely has two different cars that have the front and rear end of the last Mercedes-Benz C-class to a front or rear end of the Opel Astra. There is a SUV called a Landwind that looks just like an early 1990's Isuzu Rodeo and in the crash tests did the same thing. They Chinese must have decided that crumple zones are meant to be in the front seat. The tire came through the foot well, the A-pillar went back into the dummy's body, and more damage, meaning a driver would be dead. This is a trend that has gone on with most of the Chinese cars crash tested. The Chinese have another attempt to create a car, but its name (not the brand name) says it all about what the car is like, the Brilliance BS6. They must have been aiming for what they named it, either that or they thought BS was a good thing in English. The car is terribly overpriced, terribly unsafe, isn't luxurious in any way, slow, ugly, has horrible quality, and completely failed the crash test, even with 4 airbags. They are coming out with more, the Brilliance BS4 doesn't look bad. I have just seen crash test videos of the BS4 and an improved BS6, neither did too badly. However, I would never buy a car named BS. If I wanted to buy a car new for a very low price I would buy something Korean, the new KIA's and Hyundai's are good as I already wrote about, but those are probably more expensive. The best way would be used, you can get great cars for great prices that way.

Alfa Romeo's return to the U.S.

One of the most exciting things to me in the North American car market that will happen in the next 2 years is that Alfa Romeo coming back. These Italian cars have never been a match for the Germans dynamically, but they always make beautiful cars. The 159 will probably be the first one to come here and then followed by the Brera and Spider (coupe and roadster versions of the 159). The 159 as usual is a beautiful car in both sedan and sport wagon versions. They also have good engines now. There is a 2.2L-4 with 185hp, a 3.2L V6 with 250-260hp, and a 2.4L-4 turbo diesel with 200-210hp that I hope will come here. It can have all wheel drive and there is a new version of the Brera coupe tweaked by Prodrive. The new Alfa Romeo's are good to drive, but being front wheel drive still aren't as good as the BMW 3-series or Mercedes C-class. In Europe the 159 is priced well below the BMW and Mercedes competitors, meaning that these cars will make sense for value. They do have a car that I hope doesn't come here, the 147. The 147 is an old design that fails to do much well at all. It got a bad 3 star crash test rating from the EuroNCAP, it is overpriced and Alfa's owner Fiat has a great (looking and driving) small hatch called the Bravo that got a 5 star crash test rating and is available at a very good price. Alfa does have a replacement planned for the 147. Alfa Romeo is a company that I desperately want to be here soon, because I love their cars. There is even  a possibility of a rear drive Alfa, based either on a Jaguar platform that Fiat will get through Tata (the Indian company that bought Land Rover and Jaguar from Ford) or a new chassis they make themselves. 

GM's Turnaround is Going Well

In the last two years General Motors has been digging itself deeper into trouble. Their cars have been selling badly and because they are such a big company they need more sales than other smaller companies to run. They have now hugely improved the cars they offer. They have the wonderful Australian Holden Commodore based Pontiac G8. The Cadillac CTS, the updated Opel based Chevy Malibu, the Corvette, the Saturn Aura, Saturn Astra, new Saturn Vue, Pontiac Solstice/Saturn Sky, Buick Enclave/GMC Acadia/Saturn Outlook, Chevy Silverado/GMC Sierra and more are all great cars. They still make the Buick Lacrosse, Chevy Cobalt/Pontiac G5, Pontiac G6, Buick LuCurne/Cadillac DTS, Chevy Trailblazer, and Saab 9-5 are just mediocre cars. They also have the completely terrible and pointless Hummer H2 and H3. They are improving these cars, with things like the new Holden Commodore based Comaro. GM is a company that has the resources to make great cars, but too often chooses to be cheap. For a subcompact they could easily make Chevy, Pontiac, and Saturn versions of the Opel Corsa. They could make a sedan version of the Opel Astra (already sold here as the Saturn Astra hatchback). They are going to make a new Saturn Aura that is just a Saturn badged Opel Insignia, the Vectra replacement. They could bring out the 7-seat version of the Saturn Vue, the Chevy/Holden Captiva as a Chevy Equinox replacement. In Europe they have a small MPV (A small minivan like the Mazda 5) called the Opel Zafira that is very good there and could be a fuel efficient and practical family car instead of a SUV. There are lots of cars from other markets that would be great here.