Shoppers Say Chevy Volt Expensive, Nissan Leaf Ugly in Study

Despite their small share of total vehicle sales, the Chevrolet Volt, Nissan Leaf and Toyota Prius garner a lot of attention from new-car shoppers, according to J.D. Power and Associates' 2012 Avoider Study.

The study finds that gas mileage is the most important attribute shoppers are looking at now, surpassing older key reasons such as exterior styling, reliability and price.

That puts the Volt, Prius and Leaf in a good position as each are among the most fuel-efficient cars in the country.

Cars.com Family Reviews the 2012 Mitsubishi Outlander

Mitsubishi keeps it simple in the 2012 Outlander SUV. Maybe a little too simple, says Cars.com Family contributor Courtney Messenbaugh. She found the plastic-laden interior yawn-inducing, but the optional third row really raised her ire with its flimsy materials and tight confines — even for her young son. However, Courtney did appreciate the Outlander’s sporty exterior and agility on the road.

2012 Mitsubishi Outlander Review

2013 Ford Escape Goes Green, Literally

The eco-friendly gimmick war continues to rage on. On the heels of Chevrolet unveiling eco-impact labels on its new vehicles, Ford has announced that its new-for-2013 Escape will be made with plant material.

Ford is replacing some of the materials in the Escape's doors with kenaf, a tropical plant related to cotton and okra. Kenaf is edible and looks like bamboo; it's currently used in making cosmetics and paper products.

Ford says using the plant improves the vehicle's fuel economy because it reduces the weight of the door bolsters by 25%. Its fuel economy gains weren't specified, however. The automaker says kenaf will help save oil in other ways, too. Because the plant replaces oil-based materials previously used in Escape’s doors, "the use of kenaf is anticipated to offset 300,000 pounds of oil-based resin per year in North America," Ford said in a press release.

When the redesigned compact SUV goes on sale this spring, kenaf will join Escape's soy foam seats and head restraints, recycled-tire climate gauges and carpet made from plastic bottles. 

Ford's Escape certainly isn't the first green vehicle. Land Rover's new-for-2012 Range Rover Evoque, for example, is made with 35.2 pounds of recycled plastic, or about 1,000 16.9-ounce plastic bottles.

2012 Honda Crosstour Priced at $27,655

For the 2012 model year, the Honda Crosstour gets a new four-cylinder option that starts at $27,655, excluding an $810 destination fee. The model officially went on sale today at Honda dealerships.

The base EX four-cylinder Crosstour comes with features that include heated side mirrors, a backup camera, Bluetooth connectivity, seven-speaker stereo and a 10-way power driver's seat.

That figure is $2,685 less than a base EX V-6-equipped Crosstour, which starts at $30,340 and adds more features than just the engine, including noise cancellation, fog lights, chrome door handles, dual-zone automatic climate control and a four-way power passenger seat.

The EX-L trim four-cylinder Crosstour is available for $30,705. The model comes with dual-zone automatic climate control, heated front seats, power passenger seat and leather upholstery. The four-cylinder is rated at 21/29 mpg city/highway and 24 mpg combined.

The four-cylinder is only available with front-wheel drive, while the V-6 has an all-wheel-drive option — it's available for $1,450 on the EX-L trim.

Cars.com News Briefs: Jan. 27, 2012

Here’s what we have our eye on today:

• Fourth-quarter profits are trickling in. Ford's pretax profits declined to $1.1 billion in the fourth quarter of 2011, down from around $1.3 billion in the year-ago quarter. Pretax profits for all of 2011, however, totaled $8.8 billion, up 5.6% over 2010 — the third consecutive year of improving annual profits, Ford says. Meanwhile, Hyundai's fourth-quarter profits climbed 38% to $1.8 billion at current exchange rates, Automotive News reports.

• J.D. Power and Associates' Avoider Study, now in its ninth year, found 43% of new-car shoppers avoid certain brands or models because of perceived quality or reliability issues rather than actual data. Thirty-eight percent of shoppers based avoidance on ratings and reviews, while 14% avoided certain cars because of past ownership experience. The import-domestic wars are taking an interesting turn, too: Fourteen percent of shoppers avoid import brands because of their origin, the highest number since the study began. By contrast, just 6% avoid Detroit brands for the same reason, a "historically low level," J.D. Power says.

• Honda CEO Takanobu Ito predicts a bullish 2012, with full-year profits for the automaker in the fiscal year ending March 2013 recovering to pre-recession levels. Ito told Bloomberg News he expects North American sales to lead the recovery, with U.S. sales for Honda improving 24% in 2012. Ito has high hopes for the redesigned Accord, which hits dealers this fall. Accord sales fell 19% in 2011, but it remains Honda's best-selling model.

• California, the nation's largest auto market, may require almost all automakers in the state to sell enough electric, fuel-cell or plug-in hybrid vehicles so that they make up 15.4% of total sales by 2025, Automotive News reports. The California Air Resources Board's proposal would ramp up starting in 2018. The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, a group representing much of the auto industry, says the CARB proposal represents "a disconnect with the marketplace."

Audi S7 Slays Vampires in Super Bowl Ad

Just when you thought the vampire trend was waning, Audi jumps on the bandwagon with its 2012 Super Bowl ad.

On top of being gorgeous and a blast to drive, Audi’s A7 is apparently really good at repelling vampires. Well, its LED headlights, to be specific.

New Chevrolets Get Ecological Label

Chevrolet says it will start putting new informational labels on its vehicles to help consumers understand the vehicle's ecological impact. But is it just a marketing gimmick?

Starting in March with the 2012 Chevrolet Sonic, each new model will have a small label on the rear driver-side window. More Chevrolets will get the label starting with the 2013 model year.

The label helps explain the ecological benefits of choosing a Chevy over competing vehicles, or possibly a used car. Facts on the Sonic's label include that it was produced in the U.S. — thus reducing emissions related to transportation — and that the car is 85% recyclable. An independent third-party sustainability agency verifies the information on the labels.

We don't know of any other manufacturers with labels like this, which actually puts Chevrolet's facts into a bit of a vacuum. How will consumers know if other vehicles don't offer the same green benefits? For instance, a car is one of the most recyclable items on the planet, with about 75% to 80% being reused on average. That makes the Sonic's recyclable figure, while still better, seem less impressive.

If other automakers started printing labels like this and there were more comparative analysis and context, we could see how the labels could benefit car shoppers.

Kizashi Goes Sledding in Suzuki's Super Bowl Ad

Remember Suzuki's all-wheel-drive midsize sedan? Looking at Kizashi's sales numbers, not too many people do. Though Suzuki's 2011 U.S. sales were up 11 percent, it sold only 6,942 Kizashi sedans last year. The automaker is spending big bucks on a Super Bowl ad to jog our memories. Kizashi is the star of its 2012 spot, the second consecutive year Suzuki has made a Super Bowl ad.

2012 Mazda3 Hatchback: Car Seat Check

Mazda wiped the smile — well, some of it — off the Mazda3's grille for the 2012 model year. It didn't stop there, though. The automaker also tweaked the exterior and interior styling of its compact car, which comes in sedan and hatchback body styles. For our Car Seat Check, we tested the hatchback.

For the Car Seat Check, we use a Graco SnugRide 30 rear-facing infant-safety seat, a Britax Roundabout convertible child-safety seat and Graco high-back TurboBooster seat.

2013 BMW X6: First Look

• Competes with: Porsche Cayenne, Land Rover Range Rover Sport, Infiniti FX50 
• Looks like: Not a whole lot of change for the X6  
• Drivetrain: 300-hp, twin-turbo 3.0-liter inline-six, 400-hp, twin-turbo 4.4-liter V-8, 555-hp, twin-turbo 4.4-liter V-8; eight- or six-speed automatic transmissions
• Hits dealerships: Spring 2012

For the 2013 model year, the BMW X6 undergoes a subtle midcycle update, keeping the nearly 4-year-old model fresh enough for perspective buyers. Up front, the X6 gets a restyled grille, front clip, fog lamps and new headlights. Adaptive LED headlights are a new option for the model year; xenon high-intensity-discharge headlights are still standard. In the back, there are restyled LED taillights. There also are new 19-inch wheel designs for the xDrive50i, too.

In the cabin, there's a new red leather upholstery option. The uplevel Nappa leather upholstery now comes in a new Ivory color scheme. Like the 2012 BMW X6, the 2013 model comes standard with four bucket seats, but there's a rear bench seat option, bringing the total capacity to five passengers.