Grand Cherokee or 4Runner?

Toyota chose to reveal its updated 2014 4Runner at a Country music festival in California this past weekend. Now that Nissan has relegated he Pathfinder to life as family hauler and Hummer has been defunct for 3 years, the 4Runners competition has narrowed. There's really only one other vehicle that prides itself in being as capable off road as it is on road: The Jeep Grand Cherokee. The design concept behind both is obviously very different. While the Grand Cherokee is round and has ditched hard lines from previous models, the 2014 4Runner exhibits about as hard edge of a design as possible. I think the edginess of the 4Runner looks tough and masculine and is somewhat appealing but in terms of overall beauty, I don't think it's even a competition. The Grand Cherokee really is a gorgeous SUV. Despite being a much bigger fan of the Jeep over the Toyota, I'm glad Toyota is sticking too its roots with the 4Runner and not selling out like Nissan did with the Pathfinder.

2014 Toyota 4Runner

2013 Nissan Pathfinder 

2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee

Note: The base MSRP price of the 4Runner and the Grand Cherokee is very comparable. The big difference between the two is that the Grand Cherokee can be configured in model that rings in over $63,000 whereas the 4Runner tapers off around $43,000.

Cadillac XTS Sedan - Hot? How about bulbous.

When I first saw the new Cadillac XTS, I really liked it. Then, at the Chicago Auto show a few months ago, I circled it a few times, sat in the front and back, and also thought I was quite impressed with Cadillac's biggest sedan. Then the other day I saw one and I'm not as sold on the vehicle as I once was. My biggest problem is that the sedan looks too bulbous. It looks like someone was given an assignment to pump the vehicle up with a bike pump and then overinflated. I understand that this vehicle is not intended to be a sleek sports car but I feel like the new CTS arriving later this year will be a much sleeker vehicle. If current photos of the 2014 CTS are any indication, it will anything but bulbous.

2013 XTS

2014 CTS 

*One additional thought. Current Cadillac interiors are looking great!

CLA Shooting Brake?

PLEASE OH PLEASE LET IT HAPPEN. 

Whatcar is reporting that Mercedes is working on a CLA Shooting Brake, similar to the CLS Shooting Brake. I'm actually not a huge fan of the CLS Shooting Break, probably because of how big it is but with the CLA being a much smaller car, I think they could really nail it on this model. Here's to hoping that they not only build a CLA Shooting Brake but also bring it to the U.S!

CLA250 

CLS500 Shooting Brake