Auto News 5

I'm generally a fan of small SUVs -- like the Ford Escape and numerous others -- that have enough ground clearance to handle most Michigan snowfalls, enough people-and-cargo space for a long weekend trip or a big shopping hoist, and enough substance to tow a smallish trailer. The problem with such vehicles is that they're usually poor on gas compared with traditional mid-size sedans (which many of the cute-utes are based on).inline_mediumwraptextright25807970/green/reviews/0911_2010_ford_escape_hybrid0911_02_z+2010_ford_escape_hybrid+front_three_quarter_view.jpgTrue

A year ago, when the heads of Detroit's Big Three - GM's Rick Wagoner, Ford's Alan Mulally, and Chrysler's Bob Nardelli - appeared in the infamous Capitol Hill bailout hearings, many lawmakers, and many Americans, decided that this trio from the industrial heartland could all be tarred with the bad-CEO brush. There was a telling moment, during a discussion about executive compensation, when the three CEOs were asked if they were willing to work for a dollar a year.

Yes, the VW GTI is our Automobile of the Year. Again. The last-generation car got the nod only three years ago and now its successor, the sixth-generation GTI, walks away with the trophy as well. How is it that, for the first time since we started naming an Automobile of the Year exactly twenty years ago, we have deemed a single make and model vehicle worthy of our top award not once, but twice? It's very simple. Because the Volkswagen GTI continues to burn the affordable-enthusiast-car flame like no other vehicle in the world. Because the new, Mark 6 GTI, although only a mild update to the Mark 5 GTI, made a good thing even better. Because, as we pointed out in our February 2007 issue, the GTI is "the right car for our times. Hell, it's the right car for any time." And because, as we also stated three years ago, "what the world really needs now is not cars that are fast, but cars that are practical, fuel-efficient, and fast." Not to mention affordable and fun. The 2010 VW GTI is all this, and more.inline_mediumwraptextright31239771/features/awards/1001_2010_automobile_of_the_year_2010_volkswagen_gti1001_01_z+2010_volkswagen_gTI+front_three_quarter_view.jpgTrue