New Cars

Communicator/Podcaster Christopher Barger discusses with host Ed Garsten coverage of the recent shooting at the White House Correspondents Association dinner, getting the word out as the number of journalists diminish, how to get through partisan noise, legitimacy of the PESO communications strategy and his new podcast.

When automakers report April sales next week, the numbers are going to be a bit ugly, analysts predict, but the comparisons to last April are tough because the numbers were artificially inflated, they note.

The 2027 BMW 3 Series has been revealed and it’s basically the production version of its Neue Klasse EV concept that debuted in 2023.

The flagship of the Kia lineup, the three-row Telluride has been a big hit for the Korean brand since its 2020 debut. Unlike many new models, the popularity of the Telluride never waned, with sales increasing every year since its launch.

Hey there it's podcast time!

Ram is returning to the commercial vehicle space with the 2027 ProMaster City.

Automakers are expected to share that new vehicle sales fell between 3.4 percent and 3.8 percent as dealers battled tough winter weather and rising prices.

Automakers realize that consumers are more concerned than ever about the affordability of new vehicles. They received some good news in January as affordability improved for consumers when it came to new cars, trucks and utility vehicles.

Looks like the 2027 Toyota Highlander is going all-electric.

Toyota has decided to reinvent the Highlander as an all-electric SUV for the 2027 model year. This is assuredly a response to the Grand Highlander gobbling up sales that would have gone to its little brother. But one still wonders if this is the best play for Toyota to make.

American Honda overcame supplier shortages to sell 1.43 million new vehicles in 2025, topping the previous year’s total — slightly.

Chris Cervenka from Modified Muscle and I had a good conversation about the high sticker prices for new performance cars -- and what those high MSRPs do to car culture.

Have you had to put off a sports-car dream because of sticker shock?

The Sony Afeela is a strange proposition. It's offering luxury EV motoring at a price point that will put it right in the mix with Tesla and Lucid. It's using a partnership with Honda to help get on the road. It has obvious lidar sensors sticking out of the roof to help with autonomous driving. The light bar between the headlights allows owners to type a message. A mobile app can open the doors. And so on.

LOS ANGELES -- Electric-car maker Lucid has added a new trim level to its Gravity SUV lineup. The California-based luxury marque has come out with Touring trim for the Gravity.

LOS ANGELES -- Apologies to the late, great Paul Harvey for using his famous phrase, but it makes sense here. Kia teased the next Telluride's design earlier this month, and now we know, well, the rest of the story as it pertains to the 2027 Kia Telluride. Kia gave us the final details at the 2026 Los Angeles Auto Show.

One of the worst-kept product secrets has been the 2026 Jeep Recon. Jeep now has a fully electric off-roader.

The 2026 Nissan Pathfinder is wearing some fresh new clothes.

What do you do if you're tasked with designing the 2027 Kia Telluride? You have a popular SUV that's in demand in part because of its boxy looks.

So you don't want to change that -- but you need to tweak things enough that consumers know this model is new.

Hey hey, it's the weekend. Well, almost. But it is time for the TTAC podcast.

Mazda has hauled the wraps off two concept cars, called the Vision X-Coupe Concept and Vision X-Compact Concept. Appearing at the Japan Mobility Show, they are a pair of studies which could point the company compass to a future design direction.

Automakers are running out of ways to rationalize price increases. They’ve done just about everything to excuse themselves as the average transaction price for a new vehicle in the U.S. reached a record high of $50,080 last month. But all they really have left is covertly boosting destination fees or blaming tariffs. Unfortunately, the limit for the former looks to have been reached. Attaching price hikes to tariffs has been something the industry has attempted to avoid. However, it looks like the last excuse they’ll be able to make.

The average transaction price for new cars has crossed $50K.

Would you pay that much for a new car?

The average transaction price for a new car has now sailed north of $50K for the first time.

Yup, it's Friday, so you know what that means. It's podcast time!

We’ve probably said it a hundred times over the last several years and we’ll continue saying it until the situation improves. North American vehicle prices are totally out of whack in relation to what consumers can actually afford. Reports presently have the average person spending just shy of $50,000 on a new vehicle in the United States while Canadians are spending roughly $64,500 CAD — about $47,000 USD. But what are people spending in the rest of the world?

Fresh off a recent makeover, the Subaru Forester will soon roll into American dealers for the 2026 model year. Some trims will hold the line on price - but one jumps rather significantly.

We’ve lost something with the switch from sedans to crossovers. The lower ride height of sedans creates a more engaging driving experience. Their lesser weight means better fuel economy. And arguably, the three-box format allows for better design. But we’ve gained something, too. Crossovers are more practical thanks to more cargo space, better sight lines over traffic, and raised ride heights that give them better ingress and egress.

The 2026 Jeep Cherokee needed a change to better fight its competitors. Maybe that change would be a simplified powertrain lineup, nicer interior duds, a better transmission, or sexier styling. Instead, Jeep has taken a leap of faith by making the Cherokee its first hybrid.

And, at least for now, its hybrid only.

You can jailbreak your phone. You can rock Thin Lizzy's 1976 hit "Jailbreak". And now, you can plunk down a pile of cash to get a highly customizable 2026 Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat Jailbreak.

Automotive debt continues to swell, with the latest data being truly harrowing. Edmunds has reported that over 26 percent of all trade-ins on recent new-car purchases involved negative equity on the loan and the average amount owed on that upside-down transaction was a record-breaking $6,754.

With its main headquarters in California, EV maker Rivian is planning to buy a second home on the East Coast. This as it prepares for construction of a new manufacturing facility just outside of Atlanta next year.

It's Friday, so that means it's podcast time again!

Hyundai launched the Ioniq 6 N at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in England this week. Goodwood, besides having a name that makes our inner 13-year-old snicker, is one of the most well-known international motorsports events.

Reports are surfacing that Nissan is delaying or halting the rollout of two new electric vehicles amid the Trump administration’s decision to rescind EV tax credits.

Every year, Cars.com looks at the vehicles bought and sold in the United States to find the most American-made models. A familiar name tops the list for 2025, taking four of the top ten spots, but this year’s study showed some interesting movement for some vehicles.

It's my job to be as aware of the automotive industry as possible, but being human, I have only so much brain capacity.

With something like 330-ish new-car models on the market, I can't keep track of them all off the top of my head. Few can.

So I was a bit surprised today to remember that the Land Rover Discovery Sport was still around, and that Chevy had offered a rear-drive Blazer EV RS for precisely one year.

These had slipped below my radar.

We picked a few value rides with all-wheel drive for y'all today. Did we miss any?

Given the choice, I'd rather the weather be dry before taking to a country road for a spirited drive. That's true no matter what car I'm piloting. And it's really true if the car is a 2025 Ford Mustang Dark Horse.

General Motors’ EV sales have grown significantly, with Chevrolet now gunning for Tesla’s top spot. Cadillac has announced a few new models in recent months, and the latest is the Optiq-V, a rowdier version of the brand’s Chevy Equinox EV-based SUV.

In what is likely a reaction to tariff taxes put in place by the Trump administration, new data is showing that vehicle shipments to this country have plummeted by about 70 percent.

Today we'll keep it simple. In honor of today's podcast, I want to ask you -- what's your favorite car color?

Hey hey, it's Friday, so it must be podcast time!

BMW's pricing guide for the 2026 model year M3 has leaked online. A base-trimmed M3 looks like it’ll be setting buyers back $78,400. Meanwhile the M3 Competition and Competition xDrive will be priced at $82,600 and $87,700, respectively. That’s an increase of $1,700 across the board before factoring in destination fees or any dealer markups you might encounter. However, the cars appear to be mechanically unchanged.

New-car pricing keeps going up -- at what point will all but the wealthiest people be priced out of the market? Will that even happen?

Ranking up there with news that the ‘sky is blue’ and ‘water is wet’, it should not surprise our informed readers to learn the so-called Average Marketed Price of a new vehicle in this country has once again crested the $50,000 mark.

Hello there! It's podcast time again, and this week we have a topic that's perfect for graduation season.

Watch out for elk, we were warned before taking the 2025 Volkswagen Tiguan to the rural roads surrounding Bozeman, Montana. Especially since some of the crests on the country two-lanes are blind.

I saw no elk -- just some deer -- while testing the refreshed Tiguan. Unlike other members of the deer family, the elk apparently weren't interested in checking out this Volkswagen.

Too bad, because if they'd taken an interest, I'd have plenty to say to them. Instead, you'll be the ones getting my words about this updated compact two-row crossover.

On a rainy, muddy day at the Interlake State Recreation Area off-road course in Lynnville, Indiana, I’ve just become “that guy”—the one who messed up. Last in a line of 2025 Ford Expedition Tremors, I’ve skirted too close to a downslope and it’s drawing me in like Boba Fett to a sarlacc pit. One moment I was driving straight along a mostly flat trail and the next the muddy terrain and the 5,404 pounds of the Expedition have me poised on the brink of sliding toward a tree and possibly farther into a pond.

About a half hour and the Warn winches from a pair of Bronco Everglades models later, I’m back on the trail and off to tackle more surprisingly tough off-road obstacles.

Toyota sells a ton of RAV4s, with almost half a million of the SUVs hitting Americans’ driveways last year alone. It’s selling well despite its age, too, as it has been on sale since 2019 without a complete redesign. That said, Toyota is expected to release a refreshed RAV4 for the 2026 model year, and the automaker’s European arm recently gave us a quick teaser.

Seeking to recapture a bit of market share, Ram has introduced another budget-minded variant of its half-ton pickup truck.

Honda is expanding its TrailSport offerings for the 2026 model year with the CR-V TrailSport Hybrid. While it won’t be a rugged off-roader, Honda has made some meaningful improvements that should make it legitimately capable on lighter terrain.

Toyota released the all-new ninth-generation Camry last year, debuting a car with more modern styling and a hybrid-only powertrain. Despite today only being May 1, the automaker has already announced the 2026 Camry, which arrives this fall with one key update.

Today's QOTD is partly a result of my sports fandom, partly a result of everyone needing a brief break from tariffs, and partly a shameless SEO ploy as I slipped "NFL draft" into the headline.