During the middle to late 1980s, American car shoppers looking for an economical-yet-sporty two-seater for non-oligarch money had plenty of interesting choices. From Detroit, they could choose a Ford EXP/Mercury LN7 or a Pontiac Fiero. From Europe, Malcolm Bricklin made the Pininfarina-badged Fiat 124 Sport Spider and Bertone-badged Fiat X-1/9 available over here (the Alfa Romeo Spider sold for Corvette money, so we're not including it here), while ships crossed the Pacific carrying Honda CRXs and Toyota MR2s. The latter car, with its light weight and mid-engined design, developed a cult following during its first generation (1985 through 1990 model years in North America) but didn't seem to make as vivid an impression after the second generation debuted for 1991. I've documented first- and third-generation MR2s for this series, and now I've found a good second-gen example in Denver.

Can a self-driving vehicle ever really be as aware of its surroundings as a human being? It would mean for computers to actually learn from past experiences and recognize patterns in order to navigate new and/or unpredictable situations.

There's a sea change of performance occurring over at Lexus these days. At least, that's what the Japanese luxury automaker claims. Lexus has made plenty of excellent performance cars in its past, but the brand has never been known for performance. Instead, Lexus has produced some of the most comfortable, reliable and serene automobiles to ever come out of Japan, and it's found success in doing so. The brand has a clear identity, but it's looking to massage that identity.

"Moving forward, the efforts of the CE (chief engineer) will be focused on elevating the vehicles to a new standard of performance and handling as developed by Lexus International President Koji Sato and Chief Branding Officer Akio Toyoda," Lexus said in a statement. "The ultimate goal is to deliver a new generation of Lexus vehicles that is more balanced, refined in control, and confident than ever before."

Around the turn of the last century, Toyota decided to try to entice more young American car shoppers into their showrooms by offering a cute, cheap subcompact based on the big-selling (in Japan) Vitz and closely-related Platz. This effort led, eventually, to the creation of the "youth-oriented" Scion brand and — because young Americans lusted after trucks more with each passing year — didn't result in the hoped-for firehose-like torrent of yen aimed at Toyota's coffers. Starting in the 2000 model year, the Platz two-door became the Echo Coupe over here, and not many were sold. Still, I think these tough little commutemobiles are interesting, and so I documented this '02 when I saw it in a Colorado yard.

Infiniti raised more than a few eyebrows when it announced plans to follow a strategy it described as Nissan-Plus. Although this term suggests the brand's image will be dangerously watered down, its chief executive stressed its flag will remain firmly planted in the luxury car segment as he outlined what to expect in the coming years.

The executive team led by Infiniti boss Peyman Kargar will reboot the company with a focus on profitability. "Premium brands should bring more money to the company, so that's the objective. We are not at the level we want to be," he told Automotive News. Several new products are on their way, including a crossover with a fastback-like roofline named QX55, and Kargar clarified many future models will ride on an architecture shared with parent company Nissan. It will be compatible with gasoline-powered, hybrid and electric drivetrains.

An internal email trail reportedly supports former boss Carlos Ghosn's claim that Nissan orchestrated his ouster. The leaked emails have been corroborated by sources familiar with their contents, Bloomberg reports. 

Emails going back to February 2018, a year before his arrest, allegedly describe a deliberate and multi-pronged effort — a "methodical campaign," Bloomberg said — to remove Ghosn from the company and in so doing, put Nissan in position to negotiate a more favorable relationship with alliance partner Renault. 

Nissan has finally revealed the 2021 Rogue, which means we have basic specs for the upcoming redesigned crossover. This clean-sheet overhaul should breathe new life into a compact crossover that once challenged the segment leaders for sales superiority. 

As usual, we've decided to define "top rivals" as the most commonly searched models in the segment: the 2020 Chevy Equinox, 2020 Honda CR-V, 2020 Ford Escape, 2020 Subaru Forester and 2020 Toyota RAV4. Also, for the purposes of this comparison, we're only looking at each vehicle's gasoline internal combustion engines, so we're leaving out the hybrid versions of the Escape and RAV4, though that information is included in the accompanying tables. 

The 2021 Nissan Rogue is finally here, replacing the version that has been around since the 2015 model with minor updates. The new model is completely redesigned inside and out, and it boasts a large array of standard safety features.

From the outside, the Rogue looks like a blocky, more conservative version of the new Juke that's offered overseas. At the front is Nissan's big chrome "V" grille sitting very upright. It blends into upper daytime running lights, and below those are large LED headlights. The sides are very smooth except for pumped-up sheetmetal above the wheel arches reminiscent of some new Audis. The roof is available in a contrasting color fitting the design trend of the day. The back is fairly plain, and it's beefed up with a rear bumper covered in black plastic and a faux skid plate. Nissan has increased use of high-strength steel and even added aluminum doors, fenders and a hood, all of which helps the new Rogue weight about 100 pounds less than the last one.

TOKYO — An explosion was reported at Honda Motor Co Ltd's plant in central Japan, police said on Sunday, with two workers sent to the hospital with burns.

The explosion at an electrical power distribution switchboard occurred at around 9:15 am local time (5:15 p.m. EDT Saturday) in Honda's plant in Suzuka city, Mie prefecture, an officer with the prefectural police said. Two workers in their 20s, who were checking the switchboard, were injured and sent to be treated, the officer said.

Now that Sony has announced and officially unveiled their PS5 console, some of you might be wondering about the games that will be available on the console. If you were hoping to see Rockstar’s GTA 6 arrive for the PS5, you might be disappointed, but the good news is that it looks like GTA 5 will be coming to the console in 2021.

Yes, we know that GTA 5 is an old game, but even by today’s standards, it is still very much a beautiful-looking game and it plays great. The version launching for the PS5 won’t just be a port of the current GTA 5, but it will come with several technical improvements and visual upgrades that should take advantage of the console’s hardware, as well as new features and content that will hopefully breathe new life into the game.

It's not very often that a Formula 1 car hits the market, but later this month, a 2009 Toyota TF109 F1 car will cross the auction block.

Nissan isn't going to extend the contracts of 248 temporary workers at their UK factory in Sunderland, citing the current drop in demand.

The leaks were accurate. Nissan just teased the 2021 Nissan Rogue in its most revealing photo yet, and the crossover looks just like the one that was shown in some blurry photos a couple months ago.

We can make out the details better in this new photo due to its high resolution, and it shows a new stacked headlight design coming to the Rogue. The thin light on top appears to house the LED DRLs, and then the bottom fixture contains the regular headlights and high beams. Others have implemented stacked headlight designs as of late, with the most prominent being Hyundai crossovers. The grille is standard Nissan V-Motion design. It's just much larger than the old one, with a large, black mesh area and prominent chrome surround. The design is much bolder than the current Rogue's styling.

Lexus was set to introduce the next-generation IS on June 9, but it postponed the event to respect "the recent global situation," meaning worldwide protests in the wake of George Floyd's death in police custody. Now Lexus has rescheduled the unveiling, and given us our first look at its next entry-level sedan.

The model's global debut is scheduled for at 7 p.m. Eastern time June 15, which is 4 p.m. for West Coasters. The unveiling will take place online, and the company will stream it live on its various social media channels.