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So you need a big family SUV, but you really don't want one. You'd definitely miss driving your smaller, sportier car, and frankly, you'd rather not hold a grudge against your kid(s) and significant other for forcing you into some vast, cumbersome beast of an automotive pachyderm. Well, there might be a happy medium: the 2021 Mazda CX-9.

The CX-9 may be a three row, seven-passenger crossover, but it prioritizes driving enjoyment and interior ambiance over providing maximum space and practicality. Now that does mean it has less cargo space than those vast, cumbersome beasts and bigger kids will struggle to fit in its third row. It also can seat only seven passengers. In that way, it's better to think of the CX-9 as a two-row SUV with a bonus row for rare occasions. Honestly, that's what most people use their three-row crossovers for anyway, and if that fits your needs, then the CX-9 is a great way to go. It's a rewarding, comfortable and capable people-hauler that doesn't feel like a punishment for parenting.  

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The minivan segment isn't a huge one, and it's largely dominated by three players. There's the stylish Chrysler Pacifica, with the excellent plug-in hybrid option. The Honda Odyssey unapologetically leans into its minivan-ness and family-hauling duties. Then there's the new, totally redesigned 2021 Toyota Sienna. Its selling points are immediately apparent: unique styling, a standard hybrid powertrain and available all-wheel drive. Oh, and it's a Toyota, which precedes itself with a reputation for reliability and utility, as well as a huge existing customer base. Barring some sort of dealbreaker in the test drive, this blend of existing traits (brand, AWD) and new ones (design, hybrid only) should probably be enough to make the Sienna appealing to those shopping in this lightly stocked aisle.

Spoiler alert: we found no dealbreakers during our test drive, but we were able to dig deeper into what we love, what we like and what we can accept.

As many countries around the world prepare for a possible resurgence of coronavirus cases, Japan is taking steps to promote social and economic activities.

Government officials and experts met on Friday to discuss their anti-virus strategy.

Lexus has applied several content upgrades to the ES sedan in its home market of Japan for the 2021 model year.

The Japanese government is pushing ahead with plans to get the economy back on track even as the outbreak continues to spread.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga Yoshihide said, "I think it's necessary to strike a balance of social and economic activities while taking effective measures to prevent infection."

Business leaders in Japan have met to debate ways to simultaneously kick-start the economy and rein in the coronavirus.

Members of the Japan Business Federation, or Keidanren, say they want to expand testing for the virus. At the same time, they want to streamline immigration procedures to help revive global economic activity.

An NHK poll shows that nearly 70 percent of people in Japan want the government to prioritize the fight against the coronavirus over the economy.

The telephone survey was conducted over the weekend. More than 1,200 people responded.

The governor of Osaka, western Japan, says the prefecture has determined its own criteria for gradually lifting restrictions amid the coronavirus pandemic in the wake of the central government's extension of the state of emergency.

The prefecture's taskforce met on Tuesday.

Japan's government plans to unveil a basic idea on how to partially reopen the economy when it announces an extension of the nationwide state of emergency.

The government is due to hold a meeting of its coronavirus task force on Monday and decide to extend the state of emergency for about one month. The measure is set to expire on Wednesday.

Last we saw of the redesigned 2021 Nissan Rogue was the car itself, leaked in some fuzzy but revealing photos online. Today, some details are trickling out about what's better in the new compact crossover. Power figures and fuel economy numbers were uncovered by CarsDirect, showing minor improvements to both.

The current Rogue is powered by a 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine that makes 170 horsepower and 175 pound-feet of torque. Citing an early document meant for fleet customers, the report claims the new Rogue will make 180 horsepower and 184 pound-feet of torque. Those numbers are only slightly better than before, so we imagine Nissan is simply using an updated version of the current 2.5-liter four-cylinder under the hood.

The marriage seems so right you wonder what took so long. Honda's hybrid powertrain is excellent and the CR-V is its best-selling model, yet the 2020 Honda CR-V Hybrid is only just arriving in dealers now. That's four years after this current CR-V generation was introduced, three years after the hybrid powertrain debuted in the Accord, two years after it was applied to the Insight (which is basically a Civic Hybrid) and five years since the first-generation Toyota RAV4 Hybrid was introduced.

The current RAV4 Hybrid is now Toyota's best-selling hybrid, and it would be shocking if this new CR-V Hybrid doesn't do the same trick for Honda. The powertrain is available on every trim level, effectively an option commanding a $1,225 premium over a comparable all-wheel-drive CR-V. That's impressively reasonable given its fuel economy advantage, added performance, agreeable drivability and lack of practical drawbacks.

A few months after the 2021 Toyota Supra was unveiled for the U.S. with some added performance, fuel consumption figures from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have been tracked down by Motor Trend.

Toyota surprised us all with its 2021 Supra announcement a few months ago. After only one model year, the turbocharged inline-six is revised for more horsepower, and the whole chassis has been re-tuned for sharper handling. Output went from 335 horsepower and 365 pound-feet of torque, to 382 horsepower and 368 pound-feet of torque. Predictably, the extra speed has resulted in slightly worse fuel economy numbers.

Motor Trend spotted the news first, and now the numbers are official on the EPA's fuel economy reporting website. We've laid them out below.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has warned that Japan's economy would be hard hit if Tokyo is locked down due to the coronavirus.

Abe made the comment in response to an opposition lawmaker's question about a recent spike in infections in the Japanese capital.