You don’t get to be a NACTOY Car of the Year nominee by slouching. That’s the first hint that the Genesis G80, a relatively new vehicle getting its first overall redesign for 2021, is a luxury sedan worth noticing.

With more powerful engines offered, and more plentiful and improved tech features to enhance the experience, the G80 continues to be a surprisingly strong contender in the very stacked midsize luxury sedan segment.

While the Genesis brand — an offshoot of Hyundai — is still relatively new and lacks the cachet of many longstanding luxury brands, it’s one that continues to turn heads, and could soon find itself on the rise.

I recently spent some time in a 2021 Genesis G80, and I’m back with a full breakdown.

As someone who loves to drive, I’ve never truly understood why the sales charts are the way they are when it comes to nonluxury family sedans.

Far too often, vehicles that are actually fun to drive are left behind by the sedan buyer in favor of more humdrum experiences behind the wheel.

Whatever the reason, I’m happy to report that for people who are focused on stronger performance from their sedan, options still exist. 

One such option is the 2021 Mazda6, a sedan that both looks sharp and drives impressively. I recently spent some time in a Mazda6 and I’m back with a full report.

In the automotive world, trucks rule the sales charts, nailing down positions 1-2-3 on the overall list of most-purchased vehicles year after year.

And while Ford continued to hold the overall lead with its F-Series once the final numbers for 2020 were tallied, there was an interesting development in the battle for 2nd place, with the Chevy Silverado passing RAM for 2nd place, with 594,094 Silverados sold vs. 562,676 for RAM. This is quite impressive, as the Silverado made up a significant gap from the previous year, and this battle will no doubt continue to rage into 2021 and beyond.

I recently got behind the wheel of a 2021 Chevy Silverado Crew Cab Custom Trail Boss, and I’m back with a full report on how the Silverado measures up against its competition this year.

StradVision, a leading innovator in AI-based camera perception software for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and Autonomous Vehicles, announced that its SVNet software has achieved ISO 27001:2013 certification — a recognition of its proven commitment to the highest level of information security management. 

ISO 27001:2013 is one of the most widely recognized and internationally accepted information security standards — mandating continuous controls of operations, monitoring, maintenance and continuous improvement of the information security management system.

StradVision’s AI-based object recognition software, SVNet, is currently used in mass production models of ADAS and autonomous driving vehicles that support SAE Levels 2 to 4, and will be deployed in more than 8.8 million vehicles worldwide.

Reaching the 40-year mark is a major achievement for any vehicle, and the Nissan Maxima reaches that ripe old age in 2021, leading the way as the Nissan brand’s flagship sedan.

Currently on its eight edition, the last major upgrade to the Maxima came in 2015, but for 2021 there is a limited-production 40th Anniversary Edition with some attractive design additions.

Even after all this time, and despite tough competition, the Maxima remains an attractive full-size sedan with a level of sportiness rarely found in the segment.

I recently tested a 2021 40th Anniversary Nissan Maxima and I’m back with a full report.

Maintaining a competitive advantage in the ever-changing sedan segment means reinvention from time to time, and Kia has taken that to heart.

After two decades of selling its midsize sedan under the Optima name, the automaker has decided to do a full redesign for 2021 and rebrand the vehicle as the Kia K5 — a more upscale, more powerful alternative better equipped to battle the segment sales leaders.

Highlights of this upgraded and renamed model also include a bolder style, and available all-wheel drive. I recently tested a 2021 Kia K5, and I’m back with a full report.

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The exterior design of the K5 features a sleek yet aggressive redesign that is highlighted by sharp-looking headlights and is overall a much bolder look than the Optima offered. It will definitely catch your eye more than most sedan competitors. 

Exterior features include automatic LED reflector headlights, amber LED daytime running lights, power heated outside mirrors, an acoustic front windshield, and 16-inch alloy wheels.

The subcompact crossover market is quite saturated these days — which competitors including Honda’s HR-V, the Kia Seltos, Hyundai Venue, Mazda CX-30 and Jeep Renegade, among many others.

But Subaru, a brand that doesn’t top sales charts but has fiercely loyal followers, has perhaps the best offering in this segment — the Subaru Crosstrek, which gets a strong design upgrade, more powerful engine option and safety/tech upgrades for 2021. I recently spent some time behind the wheel of a 2021 Crosstrek Sport, and I’m back with a full report on a vehicle that spices up its segment.

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The exterior of the redesigned 2021 Crosstrek stands out from the competition, both in terms of its sleek look and unique colors offered. Subaru has never gone the way every other automaker has with its designs, and this is no exception.

The vehicle features a redesigned front fascia that includes a new bumper cover and grille, new wheel design, and new color options such as Plasma Yellow Pearl and Horizon Blue Pearl. I had a test vehicle with the yellow pearl color and it looked very sharp and unique on the roadways.

Defender is a classic British automotive nameplate from Land Rover with as much history as nearly any vehicle in existence. Stretching back all the way to 1948, when it was first introduced as the “Series 1” as a Jeep-inspired vehicle, this tough customer has seen a seven-decade run and gone through a handful of redesigns (with the Defender name coming into play starting in 1990). More than 2 million of these vehicles have been sold worldwide between all of its renditions over those seven decades.

For the 2020 model year, after a few years dormant (and not being sold in the U.S. since the 1990s), a newly remodeled version of the Defender returned to the world automotive stage to much fanfare, and that excitement continues into 2021. I recently tested the latest incarnation of the Defender and I’m back with a full report of how this classic vehicle contends in today’s automotive landscape.

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First let me just say that for a rugged and off-road capable vehicle, the Land Rover Defender is a beautiful vehicle that will catch your eye and looks like nothing else on the road.

The exterior design is squared off and tall (with up to 11.5 inches of ground clearance). The Defender shares limited similarity to a Jeep design, with the added bonus of being much more attractive. Two-door and four-door versions of the Defender are offered.

While the bulk of Toyota’s sales come from the smaller end of the lineup (its Camry and Corolla sedans, plus the RAV4 crossover), they also have some strong offerings at the larger end of the vehicle spectrum.

The high-end and massive Toyota Land Cruiser sits atop the brand’s vehicle chain, but lurking just below it is another offering that can also handle itself well off-road and in all weather conditions, and at a more affordable price — the Toyota Sequoia.

I recently drove a Toyota Sequoia, and I’m back with a full report (Note: I drove a 2020 model year Sequoia, but there are only minimal changes for 2021)

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The best way to describe the Sequoia’s design is to say that it looks like a tank. It’s tall, bold and in your face, and even longer than the Land Cruiser at 205.1 inches (17.1 feet) long. Ground clearance is an impressive 10 inches, allowing for better off-road performance.

When you are in the Sequoia, you are sitting up high and looking down at the world around you on the roadways. Even most SUVs look small from this vantage point.