BY STEVE SILER, PHOTOGRAPHY BY FOREST CASEY, ERIK JOHNSON, AND THE MANUFACTURER

For its first several years, we saw Lincoln’s Mazda 6-based Zephyr/MKZ as little more than the cheapest way into Ford’s most prestigious American brand. With a milquetoast powertrain and a softened suspension that took much of the fun out of the innately sharp mid-size sedan platform, the MKZ also spawned the Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan, and a few crossovers. (more…)

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BY STEVEN COLE SMITH, PHOTOGRAPHY BY JARED HOLSTEIN

The ‘all-new’ Liberty gets no powertrain improvements and a Dodge Nitro“like makeover. Will a Trail Rated badge and a mondo sunroof be enough to make it sell?

Jeep debuted the Liberty for model-year 2002 as the replacement for the 18-year-old Cherokee. The company was hopeful that it could move maybe 160,000 copies of the Liberty in the U.S. per year, and even now, the little SUV that could still does. Jeep sold 133,557 of them in 2006”that’s down from almost 167,000 in 2005, but it’s still a respectable number.

The company figured a six-year model run is long enough, and so the second-generation Liberty debuts at the New York auto show. To what extent Jeep is changing the looks of what has been, next to the Grand Cherokee, its bestseller”well, that’s a bit of a surprise. As with the larger Commander, Jeep has taken the 2008 Liberty in a moderately retro direction to the point where, as the photos suggest, it looks like a slightly shrunken Commander and uncomfortably close to its mechanical twin, the Dodge Nitro. And since the Commander has not exactly been flying out of dealerships, even with $3000 rebates, we’d suspect there’s a little trepidation at HQ in Auburn Hills, Michigan, not to mention at the assembly plant in Toledo, Ohio. (more…)

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BY TOM LUDWICK AND ALISA PRIDDLE

This trio of electric vehicles uses a variety of powertrain alternatives to extend their B-srange.

Chrysler wants to spark interest with three electric concepts to be unveiled in January at the North American International Auto Show in what appears to be a showdown with General Motors and its Chevrolet Volt family of EVs.

Chrysler is using a lithium-ion battery pack with a 200-kilowatt electric motor to drive the wheels, into concepts for Chrysler, Jeep, and Dodge. Shown here are early sketches of the Chrysler ecoVoyager concept, the Dodge Zeo concept, and the Jeep Renegade concept. (more…)

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BY ALISA PRIDDLE

Pacifica output takes a mini break to meet dealer demand for minivans, while Chrysler also prepares to build VW minivans next year.

Consumers waiting for the launch of the new 2008 Chrysler Town & Country or Dodge Grand Caravan take heart. Chrysler this week marked the production launch of the new minivans with the segment’s most innovative seating, at its Windsor, Ontario, Canada, plant. The people movers should be arriving in showrooms in October.

To ensure enough to meet high dealer demand, Chrysler is temporarily halting production of its Pacifica crossover in Windsor to dedicate the entire plant to minivan output for a couple months. The Pacifica will be reintroduced in late September or early October. (more…)

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BY ERIK JOHNSON

A turbocharger roosts under the HHR’s retro-styled hood.

As Chrysler uses Detroit’s annual Woodward Dream Cruise to roll out another snoozer special edition of the extremely long-in-the-tooth PT Cruiser”this time the Sunset Boulevard Cruiser, inspired by a street 2300 miles and several tax brackets away from Motown’s famed avenue”Chevrolet has decided to inject a little bit of muscle into the event. Make that a very little bit of muscle, because the bow-tie brand has seen fit to unleash upon the world the Chevrolet HHR SS, which is, of course, based on the diminutive HHR trucklet. (more…)

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BY TONY SWAN, PHOTOGRAPHY BY AARON KILEY

They were thinking of calling it the 501.

The elasticity of all-new gets a test here, as Ford stretches the words to surround this large front-drive sedan, known previously as the Five Hundred. Tepid sales and a new CEO led to the revival of a once-bright nameplate, even though that name had been dumped after years of sedans whose appeal seemed limited mostly to rental fleets. (more…)

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BY HOWARD WALKER

Not to be outdone by the Suzuki XL7, the new Equinox Sport gets GM’s 3.6-liter V-6, too.

Chevy’s new amped-up Equinox Sport”we’re not sure why it’s not an SS either”is due in showrooms next fall as a 2008 model. It gets GM’s 263-horsepower 3.6-liter V-6 coupled to a six-speed automatic, a stiffer suspension, forged 18-inch wheels, a new look inside and out, and will be offered with either front- or all-wheel drive. (more…)

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BY STEVE SILER, PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVID DEWHURST AND THE MANUFACTURER

Toyota sharpens its dull knife.

The all-new 2008 Toyota Highlander is boring.

Seriously, we haven’t been this bored driving an all-new car since, well, the original Highlander was introduced for the 2001 model year. Yes, with its new version, Toyota has addressed customer complaints regarding the previous model’s lack of style, space, and horsepower. But somehow, in spite of those improvements, the 08 Highlander exhibits no more charisma than Al Gore hosting a paint-mixing seminar. (more…)

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The all-new 6 is set to debut at the Frankfurt auto show in September.

Mazda just announced that an all-new Mazda 6 will debut at the upcoming Frankfurt auto show in September. Official details are still sparse, but the company has released a single image of the new car, which you see here. (more…)

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BY JAKE HOLMES

Original owners get free maintenance as long as they keep the car.

Want to keep your car till death do you part? Buy from Chrysler, and you can, with a new lifetime warranty on Chrysler, Jeep, and Dodge vehicles. (more…)

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