Midsize Sedan

Don't plan the funeral yet. There's still a lot we don't know about Ford's plans.

If shopping for a $30,000 midsize sedan, the Regal and Sonata merit your attention.

The proposed arrangement between Mitsubishi and the Renault-Nissan Alliance to supply a midsize sedan in the US has been canceled. The vehicle would have been built by a Renault-Samsung factory South Korea and exported here.

With competition from Ford, Chevrolet, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mazda and Nissan mounting, Toyota is getting set to unveil a refreshed version of its Camry sedan a mere two years after it was fully redesigned.

The Ford Fusion may already beat the Toyota Camry in terms of models offered, transaction price and sales increase so far this year, but if the Fusion wants to make a run at the title of best-selling car in the US, Bloomberg reminds us that volume is key. Opening a second production line at the Flat Rock, MI assembly plant will reportedly allow Ford to produce around 350,000 Fusions annually, which compares Toyota's ability to crank out 475,000 Camrys and Honda's capacity to build around 450,000

Toyota may be set to lose share the midsize sedan market. While speaking with Automotive News, Toyota North America CEO Jim Lentz said that if his company kept pace with the current swell in the market for family four doors, Toyota would need to sell around 500,000 Camry models. "I'm not sure we can do much more than 400 [thousand] today," Lentz said.

The Chevrolet Malibu will wear a Holden badge when it arrives in Australia next year, General Motors announced. Engineers have begun testing the Holden Malibu to provide it with unique suspension tuning and transmission calibrations for Australian drivers. Testing is taking place in Lang Lang, Victoria.

2011 Kia Optima and 2011 Hyundai Sonata – Click above to enlarge

Midsize sedans don't have it easy anymore. In addition to packing tons of features (technology, safety, comfort) into a relatively affordable package, these vehicles have to be relatively good to drive, functional and not too bad on the eyes. We've seen all sorts of family sedan comparisons, and now Cars.com dishes up its own eight-car test, featuring the Honda Accord, Toyota Camry, Chevrolet Malibu, Nissan Altima, Ford Fusion, Suzuki Kizashi, Mazda6 and new Hyundai Sonata.

2010 Nissan Altima - Click either image for high-res gallery

The Chrysler Sebring has been a major league disappointment since its introduction in 2007, but execs at Chrysler headquarters have promised that a new, better midsize sedan is on the way. The photo to the right is not that magical new Chrysler, but is what appears to be a warmed-over version of the Sebring we already have. The most obvious change arrives at the hood, where the Sebring's ungainly washboard ribbing is replaced by a smooth surface. There is significant camouflage covering the fron

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has given the new 2006 Hyundai Azera a frontal offset impact rating of “Good”, the organization’s best rating for crashworthiness. Like many a Hyundai, the Azera’s virtually a padded room on wheels with Electronic Stability Control, Traction Control, ABS and eight airbags all standard.