Hatchbacks

  • 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV electric car, owned by Brian Ro, Columbia, Maryland

    We've had a 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV electric car in our fleet for a handful of days, and have been thinking about our impressions of the car in everyday use. While a major snowstorm cut half the days out of our test run—with a 7-foot snowdrift blocking the road to my house—we've been using the Bolt in and around the New York City metro area. With the the car's arrival delayed (at our request), we dug into what early Bolt EV owners were saying about the car. DON'T MISS: 2017 Chevy Bolt EV electric car: new owner's first impressions The Facebook group for owners of Chevy's first...

  • 2016 Chevrolet Spark teaser
    2016 Chevrolet Spark Teaser Photo Previews New York Auto Show Debut

    The 2016 Chevrolet Spark minicar will be unveiled April 2 in New York and Seoul.

  • Scion iM Concept at 2014 Los Angeles Auto Show
    Scion iM Concept Previews New Compact Five-Door Hatchback

    The Scion iM is a thinly-disguised concept version of the Toyota "youth" brand's next model.

  • 2015 Nissan Pulsar
    New Nissan Pulsar Compact Hatch Rivals VW Golf, But No U.S. Sales Planned

    The Nissan Pulsar is a compact five-door hatchback designed for the European market.

  • 2014 Ford Fiesta ST (Euro spec)  -  First Drive, March 2013
    2014 Ford Fiesta ST: At 35 MPG, Highest-Mileage Performance Hatch?

    From our earlier first drive of the 2014 Ford Fiesta ST over at Motor Authority, we already knew that Ford has put together not only one lean pocket rocket that's a hoot to drive, but one of the most compelling small cars from a value standpoint. With its 1.6-liter turbocharged EcoBoost...

  • 2014 Subaru XV Crosstrek Hybrid
    2014 Subaru XV Crosstrek Hybrid: New York Auto Show Preview

    Next week at the New York Auto Show, the 2014 Subaru XV Crosstrek Hybrid will be unveiled. It's the first-ever production hybrid vehicle from the small Japanese maker of sturdy all-wheel drive cars and crossovers. Subaru announced the debut of the 2014 XV Crosstrek Hybrid in a press release this...

  • 2014 Kia Forte 5-Door

    Kia Motors America has today unveiled a new 5-door version of the Forte at the 2013 Chicago Auto Show. The sleek five-door hatchback has what Kia describes as 'European styling', and goes head-to-head with cars like the Ford Focus with its hatchback practicality. Topping the engine range is a 1.6-liter gasoline direct injection, turbocharged engine. With a choice of six-speed manual or automatic transmissions, the 1.6 GDI develops 201 horsepower and 195 lbs-ft of torque. A non-turbo, gasoline direct injection 2.0-liter will also be available, with 173-horsepower and 154 lbs-ft of torque...

  • 2014 Nissan Versa Note
    2014 Nissan Versa Note: 2013 Detroit Auto Show First Photos

    At the Detroit Auto Show—a day prior to a press conference revealing full details—Nissan took the wraps off the new-generation version of its low-cost Versa Hatchback. From the outside, which is all we’ve been able to see thus far, the Versa Note looks essentially the same as the...

  • 2011 Toyota Matrix
    2013 Toyota Matrix Compact Hatchback To Be Last Of The Line?

    The 2013 Toyota Matrix five-door compact hatchback has always been the Toyota that gets ignored. Now comes word that it may, in fact, leave the market altogether when the current Corolla on which it's based is redesigned for 2014. From assumptions that it had gone out of production in 2009--it...

  • 2013 Subaru XV Crosstrek, upstate New York, Dec 2012
    2013 Subaru XV Crosstrek: First Drive

    Every auto journalist has biases; ours is a predisposition to Subarus, of which we've owned four. So we were eager to test the 2013 Subaru XV Crosstrek, a new model this year. It's essentially the Impreza compact five-door hatchback, with larger wheels and tires, higher ground clearance (8.7...

  • 2013 Chevrolet Spark
    Green Car Reports 2013 Best Car To Buy Nominee: Chevy Spark

    The 2013 Chevrolet Spark misses being the shortest car ever sold as a Chevy in the U.S. by just an inch or two. But the five-door hatchback is by far the most modern minicar Chevrolet has ever offered. And it represents a daring foray into very small cars by a brand better known for its Impala...

  • 2014 Ford Fiesta: EcoBoost (European version)
    2014 Ford Fiesta EcoBoost Prototype: First Drive

    Three-cylinder cars are increasing common in Europe, but aside from the Smart ForTwo, they’re a rarity in the U.S. That’ll change next fall, when the 2014 Ford Fiesta EcoBoost goes on sale here. Its 1.0-liter, turbocharged, three-cylinder engine puts out 123 horsepower (at a high 6,000...

  • 2014 Ford Fiesta

    Along with the new, ultra-fuel-efficient 2014 Ford Fiesta with the 1.0-liter EcoBoost three-cylinder engine, Ford's subcompact gets a number of other changes for the 2014 model year. These include a revised interior that adds a 6.5-inch LCD touchscreen display and optional MyFordTouch infotainment system in an all-new dashboard layout. Ford is touting the revised Fiesta's "dramatic" and "distinctive" personality, with "expressive and fun" looks and a host of new features that bring the several-year-old subcompact up to date. MyFordTouch added Perhaps most notably, the 2014 Fiesta will get the...

  • 2013 Ford C-Max Energi plug-in hybrid, Marin County, CA, Nov 2012
    2013 Ford C-Max Energi Plug-In Hybrid: First Drive

    The 2013 Ford C-Max Energi is the first plug-in hybrid from Ford to hit the road, and the company sold 144 of them in October even before letting journalists drive the car. It’s the pricier and more capable of the two C-Max models, and Ford compares it directly to the Toyota Prius Plug-In...

  • 2012 Toyota Prius C, Catskill Mountains, NY, Oct 2012
    2012 Toyota Prius C: Real-World Gas Mileage Test

    With the 2012 Toyota Prius hybrid family now comprising four members, the subcompact Prius C hatchback is the one least like its siblings. It's smaller, with a smaller engine and battery, and less cross-section to cause aerodynamic drag. So does it consume less fuel? The EPA rates it at 50 mpg...

  • Supercharged Honda CR-Z concept, 2012 SEMA show
    Honda Presents Supercharged CR-Z Hybrid Hatch At SEMA Show

    There’s been talk of a more powerful Honda CR-Z in the works ever since the hybrid ‘hot’ hatch was first launched. This was mostly because the CR-Z, which was billed as the first sporty hybrid, was neither sporty nor all that fuel efficient. Its official performance specs came in...

  • 2013 Ford C-Max Hybrid, Catskill Mountains, NY, Oct 2012
    2013 Ford C-Max Hybrid: Quick Gas-Mileage Test

    Gas mileage in hybrid vehicles can be a tricky thing. Depending on how they're designed--and at what speeds their electric motors kick in--their efficiency can vary considerably. When we tested the 2013 Ford C-Max Hybrid six weeks ago in Los Angeles, the real-world indicated gas mileage was 37 mpg...

  • 2012 Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid, Catskill Mountains, NY, Oct 2012
    2012 Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid: Is It An Electric Car, Or Not?

    The 2012 Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid is the second best-selling plug-in electric car in the U.S. today. It outsells the Nissan Leaf and is bested only by the Chevrolet Volt. But if you view it as an electric car, it’s an odd duck indeed. The car’s plug-in hybrid powertrain adds a...

  • 2014 Volkswagen Golf (European spec)

    The new, seventh-generation Volkswagen Golf was unveiled early last month in Berlin, but more models were added to the lineup at last week's Paris Auto Show. And while complete details weren't forthcoming, VW Group executives offered some hints on what we'll see when the 2014 VW Golf debuts in the U.S. around November 2013. In Paris, the company revealed the new Volkswagen GTI hot hatchback, which will come to the U.S., along with the VW Golf BlueMotion, the uber-economical model with a small 1.6-liter turbodiesel that we won't see. The Golf is by far Volkswagen's most important model...

  • 2013 Honda CR-Z (European spec)
    2013 Honda CR-Z Hybrid Updates: Paris Auto Show Preview

    Today seems to be the day when Paris Motor Show previews are coming thick and fast. Honda announced today that it will show an updated 2013 CR-Z two-seat hybrid hatchback at the Paris event, where media announcements kick off two weeks from yesterday. The 2013 Honda CR-Z has mildly refreshed...

  • 2013 Ford C-Max Hybrid, Los Angeles, August 2012
    2013 Ford C-Max Hybrid: First Drive

    The verdict is in: At last, the fabled Toyota Prius hybrid has a viable competitor. If you're in the market for a five-door hybrid hatchback with very high fuel economy--an EPA rating of 47 mpg combined--you should drive a C-Max Hybrid before you trot down to your local Toyota dealer and sign the...

  • 2013 Chevrolet Spark minicar, New York City, Aug 2012
    2013 Chevrolet Spark: First Drive

    Yeah, we drove the pink one. The 2013 Chevrolet Spark, the first Chevrolet minicar in many, many years, comes in a remarkable array of pastel colors, including one called Techno Pink. One of two Sparks we tested yesterday came in that very distinctive shade; the other was Salsa (lime green). Other...

  • 2013 Hyundai Elantra Coupe, Chicago Auto Show, Jan 2012
    2013 Hyundai Elantra Gives You A Choice: Sedan, Coupe, Hatch (But No Wagon)

    Americans won't buy hatchbacks, or so goes the hoary old conventional wisdom. That may no longer be true, as Ford found out, but most compact cars are still four-door sedans. With the 2013 launch of its Elantra GT hatchback and Elantra Coupe, however, Hyundai has expanded its compact line to offer...

  • 2012 Toyota Prius C
    2012 Toyota Prius C: Buyers Like It, But Not Consumer Reports

    At $19,705 and up, the 2012 Toyota Prius C subcompact is the company's least expensive hybrid. It's also tied with its larger Prius liftback sibling for best gas mileage on the market: 50 mpg combined. And those two qualities seem to be making it a sales hit for Toyota, meaning car buyers seem to...

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