SUVs have changed. For the first time ever, we didn't have a single body-on-frame example in our annual SUV of the Year competition. Remember, when Bob Lutz and Stephen Ross cooked up the Ford Explorer -- the vehicle most responsible for cupiding America's still-raging love affair with the SUV -- it was little more than an enclosed, four-door Ranger. For our 2013 competition, the overwhelming majority of the competitors were car-based. However, there was one vehicle that wasn't, and in the words of Frank Markus, "did more of what we expect an SUV to do." That vehicle is the 2013 Mercedes-Benz GL.

Lincoln is seeking some mojo to kick the brand into high gear. With a 2012 sales total of just 82,150 vehicles, Ford’s luxury brand trails all of its rivals by a considerable amount. Mercedes-Benz sold 274,134 vehicles in 2012, BMW sold 281,460 vehicles not including Mini, Lexus moved 244,166 units, and cross-town rival Cadillac sold 149,782 vehicles. The Blue Oval itself may be doing fine, but it's clear its luxury division needs help to avoid being relegated to Dearborn's historical archives. The latest effort is the MKC Concept, an Escape-based compact crossover packing plenty of luxury into a compact package.

For several years, it seemed all we ever talked about with trucks was torque and tow ratings. Things have changed, with truck buyers' expectations reaching a long way off the farm or job site. There's no single magic bullet that will meet every truck owner's needs, so even an entry payload model range like the Ram 1500 has to have far more breadth and depth than its forebears of a decade ago did. To demonstrate its half-ton's ability to cover the entire market, Ram delivered a V-6-powered SLT on the efficient and luxurious side and a V-8 powered Sport leaning toward power and performance.

Anyone who follows the ups and downs of the pickup-truck industry knows that the last five years have been brutal. When the Great Recession hit, it put a major damper on research and development spending on new trucks. That isn't to say that nothing happened in the last five years -- far from it, actually. What it does mean is that instead of having the funds to build trucks and vans that are all-new from the ground up, truckmakers' priorities shifted to improving and building upon already existing vehicles.

El Segundo, Calif. (November 12, 2012) - Source Interlink Media, LLC (SIM) announced today that Motor Trend has selected the 2013 Tesla Model S as its 2013 Car of the Year(R), marking the first time a vehicle not powered by an internal combustion engine has been selected in the 64-year history of the award.

Marketing executives within the truck industry have told us they have identified a large segment of truck buyers they refer to as "never nevers." These are truck buyers who want trucks for the image, they have no intention of ever towing, hauling or doing any offroading. Simply put, they will never use their truck for any of the things it was built for. This doesn't make us mad, just disappointed.

As our Sport/Utility of the Year program has evolved over the past 13 years, so too has the market. When this award began, body-on-frame SUVs ruled and what would become known as crossovers were a niche at best. Today, the segment has turned on its head. Ride quality and amenities rank above ground clearance and low-range transfer cases in many consumers' minds. Such a market isn't necessarily accepting of a brand that offers only large, expensive SUVs. To survive, Land Rover has to offer more, and the Range Rover Evoque is exactly that.

El Segundo, Calif. (November 16, 2011) - Motor Trend, the world's authority on cars, trucks and SUVs announced today the Volkswagen Passat as its 2012 Car of the Year. Now in its 62nd year, the Motor Trend Car of the Year Award(R), announced live at the Volkswagen press conference from the Los Angeles International Auto Show, is the most prestigious honor bestowed upon an automotive manufacturer by Motor Trend.

2012 Motor Trend SUV of the Year: Land Rover Range Rover Evoque

Despite having such chest-thumping appellations as Pathfinder, Crosstrek, and Allroad, none one of 11 contenders in this year's competition has frame rails tucked beneath its sheetmetal or a pair of its wheels connected by a solid axle -- all have unitized steel and/or aluminum shells riding on independent suspension. How's that for a sign of the times?

Below is a quick breakdown of this year's 2012 Motor Trend Truck of the Year Contenders, won by the Ford F-150:

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When the Great Recession hit, not only did casual truck buyers vanish, but automakers were forced to do some serious belt-tightening. The result: When it came to pickups, the goal was to appeal to core truck people, listen to customer input, and use resources wisely to keep loyalists happy and win over new buyers. That is precisely what has happened in this Truck of the Year. Model-year 2012 is more punctuated by pointed improvements than dramatic change.

In the heavy-duty truck world, capability is most important. Folks like to brag about numbers -- horsepower, torque, and payload and towing capacity -- and talk about the monstrous things they can tow. Take, for example, the Chevrolet Silverado HD's 21,700-pound towing capacity. That means it can tow three other Silverado HDs, or 10 Lotus Evoras. Payload capacities in this category mean that each truck is rated to carry a half-ton pickup in its bed, if you crushed it small enough to fit. These are the trucks that haul horse trailers, massive boats, and huge construction equipment; the ones many people pooh-pooh as being too big and too environmentally unfriendly -- until they need to use one, of course. Styling isn't nearly as important in this category, so when the Great Recession hit and GM's development budget was cut, it prioritized function over form.

We realize this looks bad. A bunch of unabashed car-loving adrenaline junkies invite a high-clearance sports car to an SUV contest and go all wobbly-kneed with excitement, crowning it champ. We can hear the hate mail composing itself from here: "That high-falutin' Porsche is an even stupider pick than last year's Scooby-doo station wagon! Cancel my subscription! (Again!)" We beg your indulgence as we build our case around the six key criteria.

During the 2006 Sport/Utility of the Year contest, we had 12 entries, six of which were truck-based SUVs, including the Ford Explorer, Hummer H3, and Nissan Xterra. We dubbed that field "The Dirty Dozen," as half the competitors, and certainly the winning Xterra, were legitimate off-roaders. One year later, the field swelled to 22 entries, nine of which were truck-based. In other words, a majority (13) had switched to car-based roots. Naturally, we said of 2007, "This year, everything changed..."

With every passing year, it becomes more difficult for the Motor Trend staff to define what exactly is a sport utility vehicle. It used to be that the 2012 Jeep Wrangler that rolled around our dirt and asphalt test course was the very model of a modern multisurface vehicle. Today, its body-on-frame construction and low-range four-wheel-drive systems are technological curiosities. In fact, the Jeep was the only vehicle here to feature both.

Click on any of the links beneath the images within this article to choose which wallpaper size you want to park on your computer screen. Once the large zoom images are open, right-click or click and hold on the image to save the file to your desktop!

Click on any of the links beneath the images within this article to choose which wallpaper size you want to park on your computer screen. Once the large zoom images are open, right-click or click and hold on the image to save the file to your desktop!

Ordering a new long term vehicle is a lot like life: sometimes you have to look past the obvious. Because that's where the real story sometimes lies, even though it sometimes means taking one for the team. Especially with the 2011 Porsche Cayenne.

We always stress that Motor Trend's "of the Year" programs are never straight-up comparison tests, but rather evaluations against our six key criteria (see below). But this year's battle for the Truck of the Year calipers came as close to a direct comparison as it gets.

Despite the effects of the Great Recession on personal-use truck sales, there is still demand for pickups ready to do hard work. The heavy-duty truck market has gotten smaller, but the guys who buy those pickups are fiercely loyal to the segment-they need the extreme capability these hard-working haulers provide. Some may wonder why anyone would own a truck that can tow nearly 20,000 pounds, but for a lot of people in construction, those who transport vehicles or goods, and those with ranches, this is just a part of everyday life.

DETROIT - Motor Trend magazine, one of the world's premier automotive authorities, today named the Chevrolet Volt the 2011 Motor Trend Car of the Year.

The Motor Trend '93 Truck of the Year competition proved that intensity isn't a function of quantity. Although only three trucks answered the call this year, there was no shortage of talent. Each entrant is a standout in its own class. The Ford Ranger, for instance, has been the best-selling compact pickup in America for the last six years. The Isuzu Trooper is the all-time sales champ for import sport/utility vehicles. And the Jeep Grand Cherokee, of course, is Chrysler's sequel to the poopular Cherokee, the vehicle that almost single-handedly built the four-door sport/utility market.

Winner: Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8
Runner-Up: BMW X6 M