At the Consumer Electronics Show 2020 — taking place in Las Vegas January 7-10, 2020 — the BMW Group will be presenting its approach to creating the mobility experience of the future. 

For seven years, the BMW i3 has played the role of ambassador for electric driving, sustainability and intelligent connectivity in urban areas. These qualities have helped to make it the world’s best-selling electric car in the premium compact segment.

And now the BMW Group has brought the BMW i3 Urban Suite to this year’s CES in Las Vegas to reveal a mobility experience tailored entirely to the passenger’s individual needs.

If you have the need for speed, and a luxurious design to go along with it, there are plenty of sedans to choose from among the elite luxury brands.

For Mercedes-Benz, one such crown jewel offering is the AMG E53 (a high-end version of its E-class sedan), which I recently was able to experience. Read on for full details on how it measures up. 

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Long, low and shapely by anyone’s definition, the E53 boasts a simply beautiful exterior design, which is typical of a Mercedes offering.
You can also opt for attractive 5-spoke wheels with black accents (a $750 option) and a panorama sunroof ($1,000).

The Interior, with extremely comfortable seating and a smooth design that flows well, is equally impressive and one of the best in class. 

While it seems like the 2019 season just ended, the start of NASCAR racing in 2020 is just weeks away.

As fans anticipate the new season, here are a handful of stories to keep in the back of your mind that will be worth watching as the year unfolds.

Cup Rookie of the Year Battle
There’s a larger crowd than usual battling for this honor in 2020.

• Christopher Bell in the 95 car (as a temporary stopover until a Gibbs car is vacant)
• Cole Custer in Stewart-Haas Racing’s 41 car
• Tyler Reddick replacing Daniel Hemric in the 8 car for RCR.

Rounding out the ROTY contenders (battling for 4^th, in all honesty, with inferior equipment) are:

• Quin Houff (#00 car — StarCom)
• Brennan Poole (#15 car — Premium)
• John Hunter Nemechek (#38 car — Front Row)

So how will this battle finish up? The way I see it, Custer has the best equipment out the gate; Reddick has a chance at ROTY if he can avoid the wrecks Hemric had; Bell has the most talent of the bunch and ability to get the win that seemed close but eluded Matt DiBenedetto in the 95 in 2019. 

In the U.S., the vehicle trend in recent years has been “bigger is better”. Sedans are disappearing every year, and large SUVs appear to be growing on trees.

Even companies that had traditionally were not focused on the larger SUV category are now dipping their toes in the water. Once such company is Hyundai, which debuted its 2020 Hyundai Palisade three-row SUV during 2019.

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The Palisade is the largest SUV ever offered by Hyundai, jumping to the top of their lineup above the Santa Fe, Kona and Tucson. And it’s an impressive debut, to say the least.

A corporate cousin to the Kia Telluride (another impressive debut for the 2020 model year in this segment), the Palisade offers an attractive design, both on the exterior and the roomy interior setup.

Android phone users will be able to increase their connectivity starting in 2020, when the BMW lineup will start to feature Android Auto integration in mid-2020. The addition will allow customers to connect their Android smartphones wirelessly with their vehicle and enjoy access to useful information like suggested destinations and upcoming appointments when it is needed.

Android Auto in a BMW will be demonstrated live for the first time at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2020 and will be will be available for customers in 20 countries from July 2020 for all vehicles with BMW Operating System 7.0.

The station wagon, once the vehicle most associated with family excursions, is arguably the most overlooked class of vehicles available today.

It doesn’t help that so few wagons are being produced (they make up only 1.4 percent of U.S. auto sales), and the biggest factor in this trend is the 500 SUVs and crossovers that dominate family vehicle buying these days.

But for folks who have SUV fatigue and want some alternative options, a few brands are still in the wagon business. In the luxury realm, the most notable player is Volvo, who offers a couple wagon options in the V90 and V60.

I recently tested a Volvo V60, which was redesigned for the 2019 model year, and I’m back with a full report on what it offers.

When the term luxury vehicle is thrown out, many people automatically envision something far out of the reach of the average car buyer, pushing toward the six-figure price range.

But in reality, on the lower end of the luxury scale are many vehicles that are well within reach for people who don’t fit into the 1 percent class.

With that in mind, Mercedes-Benz introduced an all-new vehicle for 2019, the A-Class (aka the A220). It’s an attempt to draw new and younger buyers to the brand as they battle BMW, Audi, Lexus and other luxury brands for category supremacy.

I recently tested an A-Class and I’m back with a full report on how it measures up.