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2017 Chrysler Pacifica will start at $29,590

Early reports suggested the 2017 Chrysler Pacifica would be more expensive than the outgoing model, but that's not entirely the case. The new minivan's base LX trim starts at $29,590 (after $995 destination) versus $30,990 for the 2016 Town & Country. The latest vehicle's prices are also in line with its competitors. All Pacificas have amenities like Active Noise Cancellation and the model's famous Stow 'n Go seats. For $31,490, customers can upgrade to the Touring trim to get SiriusXM satellite radio, power sliding doors, and automatic headlights. The Touring-L adds a little more luxury for $35,490 with features like rear parking assist, blind spot monitoring, and leather seats, which are heated for the front row. The Touring-L Plus at $38,80 includes even more useful items like a seven-inch driver display, 8.4-inch Uconnect infotainment system, heated steering wheel, heated second-row seats, and an upgraded stereo. The top of the Pacifica range is the Limited trim for $43,490, which piles on even more luxuries to haul the family around in style. The amenities include Nappa leather, ventilated front seats, an integrated vacuum, 3D navigation, HID headlights, LED foglights, panoramic sunroof, and hands-free doors and liftgate. It seems perfect for a road trip. Compared to the competition, the Pacifica has good fuel economy and similar pricing (all of which include destination). For example, the 2016 Honda Odyssey starts at $30,300 and can go up to $45,775 for the top Touring Elite model. The situation is similar with the Toyota Sienna, which ranges between $29,750 and $46,170 for the most expensive two-wheel drive version. The rapidly aging Nissan Quest starts out cheaper at $27,480 but tops out at $44,130. However, the Kia Sedona is significantly cheaper than the Pacifica, starting at $27,295 and going to $40,795 for the highest trim. The only potential downside to the Pacifica's pricing is FCA's discontinuation of the Dodge Grand Caravan. The model started at just $23,090 and topped out at $31,990, which gave the automaker a range of less expensive trims to lure price conscious customers. The company has lost that market advantage. We look forward to spending more time with the 2017 Pacifica when it arrives at dealers this spring. The Hybrid joins the lineup in the second half of the year.

Consumer Reports no longer recommends Honda Civic

Consumer Reports annual Car Reliability Survey is out, and yes, there are some big surprises. First and foremost? The venerable publication no longer recommends the Honda Civic. In fact, aside from the walking-dead CR-Z and limited-release Clarity fuel-cell car, the Civic is the only Honda to miss out on CR's prestigious nod. At the opposite end there's a surprise as well – Toyota and Lexus remain the most reliable brands on the market, but Buick cracked the top three. That's up from seventh last year, and the first time for an American brand to stand on the Consumer Reports podium. Mazda's entire lineup earned Recommended checks as well. Consumer Reports dinged the Civic for its "infuriating" touch-screen radio, lack of driver lumbar adjustability, the limited selection of cars on dealer lots fitted with Honda's popular Sensing system, and the company's decision to offer LaneWatch instead of a full-tilt blind-spot monitoring system. Its score? A lowly 58. The Civic isn't the only surprise drop from CR's Recommended ranks. The Audi A3, Ford F-150, Subaru WRX/STI, and Volkswagen Jetta, GTI, and Passat all lost the Consumer Reports' checkmark. On the flipside, a number of popular vehicles graduated to the Recommended ranks, including the BMW X5, Chevrolet Camaro, Corvette, and Cruze, Hyundai Santa Fe, Porsche Macan, and Tesla Model S. Perhaps the biggest surprise is the hilariously recall-prone Ford Escape getting a Recommended check – considering the popularity of Ford's small crossover, this is likely a coup for the brand, as it puts the Escape on a level playing field with the Recommended Toyota RAV4, Honda CR-V, and Nissan Rogue. While Ford is probably happy to see CR promote the Escape, the list wasn't as kind for every brand. For example, of the entire Fiat Chrysler Automobiles catalog, the ancient Chrysler 300 was the only car to score a check – there wasn't a single Dodge, Fiat, Jeep, Maserati, or Ram on the list. That hurts. FCA isn't alone at the low end, either. GMC, Jaguar Land Rover, Mini, and Mitsubishi don't have a vehicle on CR's list between them, while brands like Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Nissan, Lincoln, Infiniti, and Cadillac only have a few models each. You can check out Consumer Reports entire reliability roundup, even without a subscription, here.

The next steps automakers could take after sales drop again in April

DETROIT (Reuters) - Major automakers on Tuesday posted declines in U.S. new vehicle sales for April in a sign the long boom cycle that lifted the American auto industry to record sales last year is losing steam, sending carmaker stocks down. The drop in sales versus April 2016 came on the heels of a disappointing March, which automakers had shrugged off as just a bad month. But two straight weak months has heightened Wall Street worries the cyclical industry is on a downward swing after a nearly uninterrupted boom since the Great Recession's end in 2010. Auto sales were a drag on U.S. first-quarter gross domestic product, with the economy growing at an annual rate of just 0.7 percent according to an advance estimate published by the Commerce Department last Friday. Excluding the auto sector the GDP growth rate would have been 1.2 percent. Industry consultant Autodata put the industry's seasonally adjusted annualized rate of sales at 16.88 million units for April, below the average of 17.2 million units predicted by analysts polled by Reuters. General Motors Co shares fell 2.9 percent while Ford Motor Co slid 4.3 percent and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV's U.S.-traded shares tumbled 4.2 percent. The U.S. auto industry faces multiple challenges. Sales are slipping and vehicle inventory levels have risen even as carmakers have hiked discounts to lure customers. A flood of used vehicles from the boom cycle are increasingly competing with new cars. The question for automakers: How much and for how long to curtail production this summer, which will result in worker layoffs? To bring down stocks of unsold vehicles, the Detroit automakers need to cut production, and offer more discounts without creating "an incentives war," said Mark Wakefield, head of the North American automotive practice for AlixPartners in Southfield, Michigan. "We see multiple weeks (of production) being taken out on the car side," he said, "and some softness on the truck side." Rival automakers will be watching each other to see if one is cutting prices to gain market share from another, he said, instead of just clearing inventory. INVESTORS DIGEST BAD NEWS Just last week GM reported a record first-quarter profit, but that had almost zero impact on the automaker's stock. The iconic carmaker, whose own interest was once conflated with that of America's, has slipped behind luxury carmaker Tesla Inc in terms of valuation.