#Crossovers

Maybe I am softening in my old age, or maybe crossovers are getting a bit better to drive, or both, but I found myself semi-charmed by Audi’s Q8 crossover. Of course, a luxury crossover should be somewhat enticing, lest the buyer feel he or she wasted money each month when that car payment auto drafts out of the bank account.

I say semi-charmed for a few reasons. One, the Q8 is still a crossover, not a sport sedan. Two, there were tradeoffs.

The fourth-generation Acura MDX is here. Sort of.

Acura hasn’t actually launched the next MDX, but it has taken the cover off a prototype that previews the upcoming re-done crossover. There is a lot new, as we teased before, but the looks remain relatively familiar.

We already mentioned how Volkswagen is being added to the list of automakers using a tourist town in the Southwest to name a crossover and/or SUV. Now we have the full details on the 2022 Volkswagen Taos.

In addition to the Taos, there’s the Dodge Durango, Kia Telluride, Hyundai Santa Fe, Hyundai Tucson, others I am almost certainly forgetting at the moment, and now, the 2022 Volkswagen Taos.

The Audi Albuquerque or Dodge Denver can’t be far behind.

Hyundai has sent the Santa Fe in for surgery for the 2021 model year, but there was little reason for us to worry about a botched facelift. With the notable exception of the mildly polarizing Elantra refresh from 2019, the brand has been on an extended roll with its refreshes. They’ve come often, typically bringing a model into the brand’s current design language without diluting the visual characteristics underpinning its own individuality. Considering most automakers can’t help but drop a steaming dud onto the carpet at least once every couple of years, we think Hyundai should be praised just for screwing things up so infrequently.

That said, the Santa Fe update goes quite a bit further than simply not ruining anything. The family-focused crossover is getting some meaningful tech upgrades, improved interior options, a whole new platform (despite this being a “refresh”) and a selection of new powertrains. A SmartStream 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine replaces the base 2.4-liter from the outgoing model and doesn’t offer much additional performance at just 191 horsepower and 182 lb-ft of torque (estimated). But Hyundai says customers should notice a bump in fuel economy as the motor doesn’t have to work quite so hard in its daily duties. Those wanting more might enjoy the turbocharged variant — which features a new eight-speed, dual-clutch transmission and 277 horsepower/311 lb-ft of torque (estimated) — or the brand’s soon-to-follow hybrid option.

Checking through the Buy/Drive/Burn archives, we’ve considered three sets of wagons previously: American wagons of the Seventies, Japanese wagons of the Nineties, and European wagons of 2004.

But Americans have more European luxury wagon choices in this, the Awesome Year of 2020 than in the decade and a half prior. So let’s revisit the discussion.

Add Acura to the list of brands taking the wraps off a future vehicle, virtually, this month.

Just one day after Volkswagen unveils the Taos, Acura will show off a prototype that previews the next MDX.

It’s an occasion worthy of a future “Rare Rides” label when the North American market is graced with a new large wagon. Only a few of the breed are for sale presently, and that quantity has remained largely unchanged since the late 1990s.

Audi is selling two new ones this year, but they don’t seem to be on anyone’s mind. Not even the wagon-loving car journalists.

We speculated before that the Volkswagen Taos would get an existing VW engine, likely the 1.4-liter turbo-four from the Jetta.

We were close.

Toyota’s all-new Venza fills a two-row, crossover-sized void between the smaller RAV4 and the larger Highlander, and is essentially a return to what the Highlander was originally. To help draw in buyers to its resurrected nameplate, Toyota decided to use a long-standing Subaru ad trope: the family pet.

The 2020 Toyota Highlander is a pretty good improvement over the previous generation, building off an already strong foundation, but unfortunately for Toyota, it comes along just as Kia’s Telluride and Hyundai’s Palisade soar towards class dominance.

Ask anyone who made big plans for after March 1, 2020, and they’ll tell you – timing is everything.

In Toyota’s case, a very, very good three-row family hauler is getting lost in all the hype about the two outstanding Korean entries.

Somewhere, a Toyota sales manager sobs in his coffee in between Zooms.

It’s been talked about and teased, and now it’s finally here. Volkswagen took the wraps off the 2021 ID.4 electric vehicle in one of the now-ubiquitous live-streamed reveals.

You can even buy yours today if you like what you see. Reservations are open.

There’s a whole slew of virtual vehicle launches happening this month and next, and Kia took their turn today, unveiling the 2021 Kia Sorento.

Hyundai’s promised something radical in the C-segment crossover space, and the next-generation Tucson is it. A strong-selling bread-and butter model, Tucson will split into two come the 2022 model year, Hyundai claims, broadening the crossover’s market appeal.

The new generation will also bring unmistakable lighting to the table.

Hyundai showcased a number of updates for its subcompact Kona on Tuesday without minimizing the funkiness it’s already famous for. In fact, the Korean crossover might even have a little more personality than it did before.

While the grille has been reduced in size and some of the hard edges rounded off, it remains impressive how many interesting little details Hyundai managed to tack onto the front of this thing without turning it into an eyesore.

Still too busy for you? That’s understandable. But know that Hyundai is offering an N Line variant that ditches the contrasting plastic cladding for color matching body panels that make the 2020 model almost look like a regular hatchback. As an added benefit, it also offers enhanced performance via the all-new 1.6-liter T-GDI Smartstream engine making a claimed 197 horsepower.

The Chevrolet Bolt has carried the electric torch for General Motors for several years now. It’s lonely, but won’t be for long. While plenty of press gravitates towards the upcoming Cadillac Lyriq, GMC Hummer EV, and a slew of electric vehicles scheduled to follow, there’s a far more humble vehicle waiting in the wings.

Chevrolet’s Bolt EUV takes the basic bones of the Bolt and adds a more commodious body — apparently, just the thing to get noticed by the American buying public. On Wednesday, GM offered a first glimpse of the new model.