I attended the Indianapolis show earlier this month, and I echo all of your comments, David. A few things I remember being impressed by:

the new Chevy Tahoe and GMC Yukon are lookers, and if the multi-displacement system that increases fuel economy can make its way to the entire GM truck line, instead of only the high-end editions, they will do all of us a favor.

seats are growing. I am a skinny guy, and found myself swimming in leather when in some luxury vehicles, such as the LS 430 and the Mercedes S-class.

clean lines are back, and that's bad news for BMW. The Lexus IS 250 is much more attractive than the new 3-series.

DaimlerChrysler needs to spend as much time on its Dodge, Jeep, and Chrysler interiors as it has on exterior design. Plastics are still hard and noisy, and the exciting exterior design of the Charger and 300 make them claustrophobic inside thanks to tiny windows.

Hummer needs to keep going downmarket. The Hummer display was the most crowded of any, and if they can expand their product offerings to include a Jeep Liberty-sized trail runner and a Wrangler-beating cheap SUV, they'll really be on to something.

My next car? Cadillac STS V8 (yeah, right) or Pontiac Grand Prix GXP. mmmmm, horsepower.

Oh yeah, and when is VW bringing the new Golf to the USA? It's been out in Europe going on 2 years, and was nowhere to be seen at the auto show.

There's no denying that the Grand Prix GXP is a sweet car.

As far as Caddies go, I prefer the CTS.

Let's see, how long does it take to start production on a concept car? What do you think might happen to gas prices by then? But you call for the return of the muscle car?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1697518,00.html?gusrc=rss

I can't hear all this negativity over my modified exhaust. vroom! vroom!

"What do you think might happen to gas prices by then? But you call for the return of the muscle car?"

Depends on the muscle in the car. I will be aquiring a Mercury Cougar within the next week that has a Lincoln V8 under the hood and yet due to the design of the car it gets 28 MPG, which is awfully close to my first Honda. Yet that same V8 only gets about 16 MPG in a Ford truck.

I'm not sure the nav system is a real mistake on the Fusion, when you compare price points for a "loaded" vehicle. I shopped Honda, Toyota, Ford, Hyundai, etc and went with the Fusion, getting it with every option (except a nav system) for the low-20s; a comparable Honda, if memory serves, was leaning more toward mid-to-high 20s.

Also, living in Denver, nav isn't really necessary... the city is generally well laid out and if you can see the mountains, you know which way is West (or consult the Fusion's in-dash compass).

However, I could see where the Mercury ought to have nav as an option.

Even my crude 1994 camaro got about 27-30 mpg on the highway, and that was with a 300 hp v8. Efficiency decreases when a motor is shoved into a heavy vehicle with all-wheel-drive, which drives up RPM at any speed, straining the motor and sucking gas.