PHOENIX — Seemingly with all the talk these days about all-electric cars dominating the new car automotive spotlight it isn’t surprising that Mercedes could launch one of the most important and best-selling cars in the German automakers lineup and it seems no one knows about it. Is a new C Class sedan a significant car for Mercedes? You bet it is, not the least because it’s sold 2.5 million of them since the fourth-generation C-Class sold over 2.5 million of them since it was launched in 2014.

MIAMI — After “earning” a reputation as a producer of cheap economy cars of say questionable quality after its arrival in the U.S in the early 1990s, Kia has established itself in the 21st Century as the manufacturer of top quality products New vehicles such as the Telluride full-size SUV, playful Soul, and performance-driven  Stinger sedan are responsible for some of that growth.

HERNDON, Va. — If born before 1996 you’ll have little memory of Acura’s beginnings. Honda was the first of Japan’s ‘Big Three’ to move upscale with a luxury division, launching Acura in 1986 as a competitor to the near-luxury models of BMW, Mercedes and Audi. And while it hit the showroom with just two models — a 4-door luxury sedan dubbed Legend and a 2-door Civic-based hatch it called Integra — the Honda offshoot hit those new showrooms running.

PHOENIX — The smallest of Honda’s utility vehicle offerings, the HR-V subcompact crossover, has been given a complete redo as its second-generation is launched for 2023. The outgoing first generation was popular finding homes for more than 700,000 units in the U.S. during its 2016 debut to 2022 run.

INDIANAPOLIS — Too many automakers have tried to update classic designs with a retro flair to put an amber light on their boring product line.  That’s not the case with the 2023 Nissan Z.  While design references the original 1970 Z, and the chassis dates to the last Z, absolutely nothing about the driving experience or technology within seems outdated.  It’s as if a little bit of Greg Brady blended with George Jetson and this is what we got.

PHOENIX — In 2017 Chevrolet first came out with the all-electric Bolt hatchback. Now for 2022 the Bolt has been redesigned and the brand expanded by introducing the Bolt EUV (Electric Utility Vehicle) that is a bit larger and more practical.  Chevrolet is vaguely suggesting the Bolt EUV is a crossover vehicle, but it’s front-wheel drive only and its low ground clearance fails as a utility vehicle. The regular Bolt EV has a starting price of $31,500, the Bolt EUV is $2,000 more at $33,500.

HERNDON, Va. — The growth in size of today’s crossovers and SUVs is not unlike the growth in size of America’s collective waistline. (You know, we can’t all be a "perfect physical specimen.") Compact crossovers are quickly morphing into midsize crossovers, while those body-on-frame 3-rows — think Suburban or Ford’s Navigator — can’t realistically be garaged; they’re too long and too high. So, when you see a crossover that seems proportional to its mission, you want to jump on it. And over it. And around it.

MIAMI — The S-Class has long been the flagship vehicle for the Mercedes-Benz luxury lineup and a case can be made that it also sits at the top of its class in the auto world — period. U.S. News & World Report magazine, which doesn’t do original automotive reviews but bases its rankings on an analysis of critiques from several sources, rates the 2022 Mercedes-Benz S-Class No. 1 among vehicles it classifies as “Super Luxury Cars.”

PHOENIX — For 16 years the Nisan Frontier has remained largely unchanged and in automotive speak a rolling fossil where new Oldsmobiles were still in dealer showrooms.  For reference, there wasn’t even such a thing as the iPhone. Yet while it was well past its freshness date the popular mid-size pickup still sold in respectable numbers. That’s not surprising, the old Frontier still looks good, it did most things extremely well and not everyone gets overly excited with the latest high tech and digital stuff they’ll never figure out how to use or even want to know.

INDIANAPOLIS — I have a pretty long commute — about 35 miles each way.  And as I noticed while picking up soda at the gas station last weekend, 87 octane was $4.65 per gallon.  Premium and diesel were uncomfortably over $5.  I own a Smart car and have test cars most of the time, so gas prices don’t usually affect my budget much, but goodness that’s expensive.  I let it sink in, then realized I still don’t care because…I’m driving the 2022 Kia Niro EV.