KUALA LUMPUR: Volvo's flagship S80 has been unabashedly forthright about its intentions to reside in the executive luxury class sector, alongside patricians likes Mercedes E-Class and BMW 5-Series. In a market where each marque makes a name for itself on at least one defining characteristic, Volvo has realised it needed two other ingredients — a shapely figure and power — to go with safety for which it has long been synonymous with. The S80 is testament to this.

Volvo lent us the 3.2-litre all-new S80 so that we could gauge the full fury of the 238 horsepower engine. This luxury saloon radiates prestige without being pretentious, and is generous with interior space. Despite tipping the scales at 2,150kg, its six-cylinder engine has more than enough power to propel the S80 to 100km/h in a respectable 7.9 seconds.

Honda Civic Hybrid

I wouldn't call a BMW 3-series luxury. My mom's 2007 Camry has better interior materials and comfort, in my oppinion. I could never help but notice the engine noise and ride in a 3-series, and I'm sure a deisel spec wouldn't be any quieter.As said, the BMW is also in a different price class. You might potentially get more MPG compared to some hybrids, but you'll pay more, thousands more. The resale value of a BMW 3-series is staggeringly low (compared to a 5 or 7 series) and the performance of even the Prius is sure to best the BMW Deisel in acceleration and braking due to the Prius's substantial weight advantage. .

Audi A3 Cabriolet: One for the ladies?

It cannot simply be that the TT Cabrio costs a bit more, or that the A3 Cabrio offers slightly more practicality in the form of rear seats, although (as in the TT Coupé, another nominal 2+2) that space is best regarded as tiny tot/dog territory. Perhaps it is the severe pseudo-Bauhaus lifestyle statement the TT makes, which appeals strongly to some chaps, but far less so to young women.

2008 Honda Accord EX sedan is able but clunky

Everyone but maybe Toyota likes Honda, the aloof, coolish engineer nerd of the auto industry.

From snarling, wheel-standing crotch rockets to cheap, hard-edged Civic sedans, Honda builds unusually balanced, dynamic vehicles – a result, I think, of the company's vast racing experience.

We love them here at the Daily Planet. If you sent out an e-mail saying there was a Honda with its lights on in the garage, our high-tech newsroom – Truth Central, I call it – would empty as hordes of reporters and editors loped outside to save their cherished Civics, Accords, Pilots and Odysseys. (Maybe that's a slight exaggeration. But I'm sure I wouldn't have much company inside if that happened.)

So why was I so conflicted about the 2008 Accord EX I had recently, a four-door sedan that, at about 3,600 pounds, is now heavier than some Buicks and stranger-looking than many 5-series BMWs? After all, most of my colleagues in the automotive media continue to heap praise on the Accord, as competent and complete a sedan as ever.

Thinkin' Lincoln: New MKS flagship is part of a banner year of intros ...

The new Bullitt has a 315-horsepower V-8, stiffer suspension, heavy-duty brakes and dark green paint, like McQueen's car. Available only with a 5-speed manual transmission, Bullitt goes on sale early in 2008 with a $31,075 base price. Ford plans to build 7,700.

But Ford will not be alone in rolling out new finery. Honda, for one, is trotting out a hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle that it will lease to fewer than 100 retail and fleet customers next year. Toyota also plans a fuel-cell announcement but offered few details.

It does unveil the redesigned 2008 Sequoia and Nissan its 2009 Murano.

BMW of North America shows three new models: the 1-Series coupe, the M3 and the Mini Clubman wagon.

The 1-Series hearkens back to the BMW 2002 of the 1970s.