2016 Lexus Rc 350 on 2040-cars

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World Car Awards finalists snub American-branded vehicles — except for Bronco

The list of World Car Awards has been whittled down to 10 finalists, but only one American brand — Ford — appears among the remaining nine carmakers for this yearÂ’s top award. The Bronco is there, and it also is balloted as a finalist in the design category. The other categories are performance car, urban car, electric vehicle and luxury model. Each category has five finalists except World Car, which has 10. One brand conspicuous by its absence in any category: Tesla. The winner in each is scheduled to be crowned March 27 at the New York International Auto Show in Manhattan. This year marks the 20th year of the World Car Awards and the partnership with the New York show. The selection process involves 100-plus automotive journalists from 29 countries who vote, as they review and test-drive the eligible vehicles for the 2024 awards. Their journey is captured virtually on World Car TV. If youÂ’re counting, the brands that appear most on the six finals lists are Mercedes-Benz (four times), BMW (also four), Hyundai (three), and Volvo (three). HereÂ’s the full listing. A video clip showing all of them is here: World Car -BYD Seal / Atto 4 -Ford Bronco -Hyundai Kona / Kona Electric -Hyundai Santa Fe -Kia EV9 -Mazda CX-90 -Subaru Crosstrek -Toyota Prius -Volkswagen ID.7 -Volvo EX30 World Car Design of the Year Ford Bronco Ferrari Purosangue Toyota Prius Volvo EX30 Zeekr X 2024 World Electric Vehicle BMW i5 Kia EV9 Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV Volkswagen ID.7 Volvo EX30 2024 World Luxury Car - BMW 5 Series / i5 - Lexus LM - Mercedes-Benz CLE - Mercedes-Benz E-Class - Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV 2024 World Urban Car  - Abarth 500e - BYD Dolphin - Lexus LBX - Suzuki Fronx - Volvo EX30 2024 World Performance Car - BMW M2 - BMW XM - Ferrari Purosangue - Hyundai Ioniq 5 N - Porsche Cayenne Turbo E-Hybrid

Lexus TX three-row SUV coming in about 18 months

When we drove the 2018 Lexus RX 350L for the first time, we called it "generally a far superior vehicle to the GX," but also a "seemingly quick-and-dirty solution" to address the chasm in the Lexus lineup: Lack of a large, three-row SUV on a unibody chassis to counter competition like the Mercedes-Benz GLS and BMW X7. Lexus die-hards were asked to accept the compromises of the silken RX L or parachute into the truckish LX (because the GX is shorter than the RX L). Automotive News reports there's a patch coming. Sources told the outlet a model called the Lexus TX will put three-row seating for adults on a unibody architecture, debuting about six months after the three-row Toyota Grand Highlander that's expected in the middle of 2023. Bolstering that report, Toyota applied to trademark the TX name in 2009, then suspected to be a Mercedes-Benz GLK fighter below the Lexus RX. Toyota followed that up with applications for TX 350 and TX 500h in 2020. The Grand Highlander is the key piece, the TX being Lexus' version of the Toyota. We don't know how much length either vehicle will bring to showroom floors. The 2022 Highlander is 194.9 inches long, the RX 350L stretches two inches beyond that to 196.9 inches. The 2022 Toyota Sequoia is 205.1 inches long, nearly five inches longer than the 2022 Lexus LX. That gives Toyota a hair over eight inches to play with — comparing the RX L with the Sequoia, and assuming the all-new 2023 Sequoia doesn't break the measuring tape — if it doesn't want to present the Grand Highlander as merely a unibody Sequoia. Both new three-row models will be built at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indiana, in the process of an $803 million makeover "in preparation to introduce two all-new, three-row SUVs." When the automaker announced the investment in the Princeton, IN facility, it said both models would offer seating for up to eight people, hybrid powertrains, "a semi-automated driving system — which will allow for hands-free driving in certain conditions — a remote parking system allowing the driver to park and unpark from outside the vehicle using a smartphone, and a digital key that turns a user's smartphone into their key and allows them to share it digitally." Lexus dealers no doubt have their calendars circled. The chairman of the brand's National Dealer Advisory Council told AN the TX "can't come fast enough." Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Kia leads J.D. Power's Vehicle Dependability Study for 2022

For the first year ever, Kia leads J.D. Power's annual Vehicle Dependability Study with a score of 145 problems per 100 vehicles. Buick (147) and Hyundai (148) round out the top three. The highest premium brand on the list is Genesis, with a score of 148. It's common for so-called "mass market" brands to lead this particular study, according to J.D. Power, as "premium" brands "typically incorporate more technology in their vehicles, which increases the likelihood for problems to occur" and aren't necessarily built to a higher standard that less-expensive brands. The highest-rated single nameplate is the Porsche 911. It's the third time out of the past four years and the second year in a row that Porsche's quintessential sports car has taken top honors. Porsche as a brand sits in seventh place (162) just behind Lexus (159) and ahead of Dodge (166). At the very bottom of the list is Land Rover with a dismal score of 284; the SUV specialist held the same unfortunate distinction on last year's list. Ram (266), Volvo (256), Alfa Romeo (245) and Acura (244) also performed poorly. The overall industry average score sits at 192 — mass market brands average a score of 190 while premium brands sit 14 points lower at 204. While Tesla is unofficially included in some of J.D. Power's results, the agency says the sample size it has access to for this study is too small to include. As has been the case for the past several years, infotainment systems dominate the list of problems reported by owners. Popular (or unpopular, depending on your point of view) complaints include built-in voice recognition (8.3 PP100), Android Auto/Apple CarPlay connectivity (5.4 PP100), built-in Bluetooth system (4.5 PP100), not enough power plugs/USB ports (4.2 PP100), navigation systems difficult to understand/use (3.7 PP100), touchscreen/display screen (3.6 PP100), and navigation system inaccurate/outdated map (3.6 PP100). While problems with the car's infotainment and technology packages are indeed bothersome, it's important to remember that such issues aren't usually leaving owners stranded with an immovable vehicle like a broken transmission or blown engine would. Culling infotainment complaints from the results would reduce the average problem-per-100-vehicle score by a staggering 51.9 points. The vehicles included in this study are from the 2019 model year. That means owners have had three years to get to know their cars and trucks. It's the 33rd year that J.D.