MotorTrend January 2022

Our 2022 MotorTrend Car of the Year program was a significant one for many reasons. It was our first Car of the Year back at Hyundai’s California Proving Ground after a pandemic-induced change of venue last year. With just 16 total nameplates—partially due to supply shortages, compounded by America’s appetite for more trucks and SUVs—it was our smallest COTY field in at least a decade. It was also significant because we had four new staff judges this year. Any veteran Car, Truck, or SUV of the Year judge can robotically repeat the six criteria we use to judge our three (soon to be four—stay tuned) Of The Year awards, but new blood reminds us our criteria and methods might not be as well understood as we think they are, both to…

On a recent visit to Toyota’s truck plant in San Antonio, Texas, we were surprised by how many full-size Detroit-bred pickups filled the employee parking lots. It illustrated the extent to which Toyota’s own full-sizer, the 15-year-old second-gen Tundra, had become uncompetitive. The completely new 2022 Tundra aims to win back buyers—with or without an employee discount. But does it have what it takes to dent the market penetration of America’s perennial best-selling vehicle from Ford or Ram’s multiple Truck of the Year winner? It’s worth noting Toyota has never sought to counter every powertrain, cab/box combo, or price point the Detroit automakers offer, choosing instead to target the heart of the retail market. For 2022, however, the Tundra adds a second powertrain option and a third wheelbase that allows both…

We got a first taste behind the wheel of the Hummer EV pickup, and it is a mouthful. There is a lot of Hummer to move—about 9,000 pounds—and when you factor in its trio of electric motors, 24-module battery pack, and all the bells and whistles included in the Edition 1 launch model, it certainly has a lot of presence. The Hummer is now a battery electric vehicle, but it remains true to its roots as an off-road-capable beast. With two motors in the rear and one in front, it packs 1,000 hp and a GM-claimed 11,000 lb-ft of torque measured at the wheels. However, our math puts it closer to 1,045 lb-ft measured at the shafts. Range is an estimated 350 miles on a single charge. We were among the first…

Meet the 2022 Toyota Corolla Cross, Toyota’s new SUV. Not that it bears much resemblance to the Corolla sedan from the outside—were we in charge of naming vehicles, we would have called it the Highlandette—but there’s plenty of Corolla under the skin and behind the doors. That doesn’t matter, though: Toyota’s intention is to invoke the familiarity of a name that, for millions, is synonymous with dependable transportation. This SUV slots between the entry-level C-HR and the ever-expanding RAV4. It rides on the same TNGA-C (Toyota New Generation Architecture-Compact) platform as the Corolla, with the same MacPherson strut front suspension. Front-drive Crosses get the Corolla’s rear beam axle, and all-wheel drivers get a multilink. Power comes from the 169-hp 2.0-liter engine, the same one used in nicer versions of the sedan;…

We’re rolling along a Tennessee road in the all-new Ford Maverick when we pull up behind a beat-up, ’90s-era Ranger. One quick glance and it’s easy to see how much bigger the Maverick is. Ah, but the Ranger is a body-on-frame design, what some call a true truck. In the end, it’s all relative: There’s a new-generation Ranger, and it’s more than 10 inches longer than the unibody-architecture Maverick, while the latter can easily do as many truck things as that battle-scarred old Ranger ever could. Our first stint bopping around Nashville and the surrounding environs was in a base front-wheel-drive Maverick XL. Its optional 2.0-liter EcoBoost turbo I-4 with 250 hp and 277 lb-ft of torque mates to an eight-speed automatic transmission; mash the accelerator pedal to the floor, and…

Carlos Ghosn is in a far nicer prison today. The former head of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance and now-wanted fugitive fled the Japanese judicial system for the safety of Lebanon in a dramatic made-for-movies escape. He left a prison system condemned internationally for violating human rights and will not return to Japan; Lebanon does not extradite its citizens. While Ghosn is reunited with his wife at their Lebanon home, he cannot travel: A Red Notice issued by Interpol for his extradition at Japan’s request makes him a prisoner within the country. Still, the situation is markedly better than the alternative for the man who led one of the world’s largest automotive conglomerates until his surprise arrest on November 19, 2018, for under-reporting income. In a video interview with MotorTrend from his home in…