Have you seen the rankings of the best auto brands and models for predicted reliability that U.S. magazine Consumer Reports published this week? Subaru leads the industry for 2025, and 8 of the 10 most reliable brands are from either Japan or South Korea. But what about the least reliable?

The last few years have not been kind to middle-class motorists. New-vehicle ownership costs have skyrocketed, and automakers have abandoned many small cars in favour of bigger, more expensive and more profitable SUVs and trucks. Clearly, the automobile is becoming a luxury item. Still, there are some pretty good deals …

The number of makes and models offering manual transmissions keeps shrinking due to poor sales, new emission regulations, incompatibilities with various driver assistance features and the increasing array of electric and hybrid vehicles, among other things. The 2025 model year will see the Jeep Gladiator, Volkswagen Golf GTI and Golf …

With coupes, convertibles, wagons and sedans dropping like flies, today’s automotive landscape is a boring sea of trucks and SUVs. Making matters worse is the fact that about 80 percent of them are finished in white, grey or black. Where’s the fun in that? Volkswagen deserves part of the blame, …

Ann Arbor, Michigan— Volkswagen enthusiasts have always enjoyed the flexibility of the German automaker’s platforms. Interchangeable parts have inspired countless tuners especially among Golf and Jetta fans. Things changed in 2011 when Volkswagen introduced the sixth-generation Jetta and wanted to please sedan-loving Americans. The car grew in length and lost …

Ann Arbor, Michigan— Small, affordable cars have been dropping like flies for the past decade. Some makes have left the segment altogether, while others have decided to pay much less attention to it. SUVs and crossovers have taken over, as you know, but not everyone is ready to embrace them.

The late Volkswagen Phaeton was the most technologically advanced and most luxurious car the German brand had ever launched. Its farewell came in 2016 when management decided to discontinue the sedan in favour of a systematic re-alignment with a focus on electric mobility. However, a successor with the project name …

The above picture is an important piece of automotive history: the black Volkswagen Phaeton you see here is the very last of its name. In the last 14 years, the Dresden factory built this sedan, which was the most advanced car to ever bear the Volkswagen logo. The Phaeton wasn't …

Ever since the Volkswagen scandal broke out – in which we learned that a hidden computer program could limit diesel engines’ power so they could pass the environmental tests – the brand has been hit with a few setbacks: engineers are working night and day to find a fix for …