Auto News 5

I drove the XC60 only briefly, but it's a handsome little crossover, certainly better looking than the Mercedes-Benz GLK350, if not quite as sexy as the Audi Q5. The interior is a letdown. The Volvo center stack is really, really getting old, and it's not particularly user-friendly. The navigation screen displayed the usual legal warning language and instructed me to "push ENTER to accept these conditions." I pushed the ENTER button numerous times, to no avail; the screen retained the legalese and I never saw a map.

Here are four sneak peeks in one: the Volkswagen Touareg in these pictures hides a new hybrid system that will be offered not only in a brand-new Touareg to be launched at the Frankfurt auto show in September, but also in the new Porsche Panamera and Cayenne and - mated to a smaller gasoline engine - in the Audi Q5.

Miles to Date: 35,056
Months in Fleet:10

Just like you, we always want to know what's coming next from Detroit, Tokyo, Stuttgart, Munich, Los Angeles, and all the other places where automotive engineers and designers dream and scheme on our behalf. Car companies, of course, are loath to share information on new products lest their competitors try to copy them--or you decide not to buy the cars they already have on dealer lots. Car companies, though, are simply groups of people, and some of them have a hard time keeping secrets. So, we poke, we prod, we cajole, and we uncover information that becomes the basis for our annual Sneak Preview issue. As always, some of our information is educated guesswork based on hints, insinuations, hunches. Make no mistake, though, these cars are on their way, even though details may change. Ladies and gentlemen: our list of 136 cars coming over the next few years...