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This is really an amazingly good car. I'm blown away by how composed it is. Over the railroad tracks, it had very little lateral skipping, as compared with a Hyundai Elantra, one of its chief competitors, which skipped noticeably over some rough pavement the morning before I drove the Focus. The Ford has incredible ride quality: so supple. Beautifully communicative and precise steering. Great clutch pedal feel and take-up. Very nice shifter. Really, the dynamics are spot-on; the European tuning has really come through. Very, very impressive. Ergonomics work well; the center stack is different; I get it, it's clearly inspired by the Motorola Razr and other cell phones. I like the precise type font of the speedometer and tachometer. This car does not have MyFordTouch, which is just fine. I did not succeed in syncing my mobile phone with Bluetooth despite repeated attempts, whereas earlier today in the Elantra I did it in 30 seconds. For ease of use in secondary controls, Hyundai really is the champ there. For driving dynamics, the Focus is going to be hard to beat.

After being delayed for a while because of GM's whole bankruptcy/bailout thing, the Camaro convertible is finally here, completing the reborn Camaro lineup.

Audi's Q family of crossovers began with the Q7, reached new highs with the Q5, and is about to go to the next round with the smaller Q3 (at least in Europe -- its U.S. prospects remain unclear). But that is only the beginning. As many as three more Q ships are being planned: a coupe-like four-door Q6, the two-door Q4, and the subcompact Q1.