10 Biggest News Stories of the Week: Infiniti QX50, Genesis GV80 Can't Beat Disco'd Deals
The clock starts … now! You still have six days to score a last-chance deal on a 2020 Chevrolet Impala or Sonic, Dodge Grand Caravan or Journey, Ford Fusion, Hyundai Elantra GT, Lexus GS F or Toyota Yaris. These seemingly disparate models share a few things in common: They’re all being discontinued for the 2021 model year, they’re all available at substantial discounts through Jan. 4, and they’re all highlighted in Cars.com’s most popular news article of the past week.
Related: 10 Biggest News Stories of 2020: Jeep Wrangler Crashes Top Spot, Coronavirus Can’t Cope
These discontinued, discounted models align further together as casualties of a sustained market trend. As shoppers continue to indulge their SUV obsession, sedans, minivans and other body styles are dying on the vine or being chopped preemptively. (The Journey, an SUV, bucks that trend, but it’s so old it still has a four-speed automatic transmission — what you get, perhaps, for a car introduced during the Bush administration.)
But their loss can be your gain, with markdowns as great as a quarter off — not 25 cents, mind you, but a quarter of the total price. The Grand Caravan minivan and Sonic subcompact sedan, for example, both offer up to 15% off, the Fusion sedan as much as 19% off and the Journey a whopping 25% off at the high end. You may not get a highly coveted model for that, but you could get it at a highly enviable price.
Follow the link below to our No. 1 story of the week for the full breakdown on those models, as well as a host of others to consider.
Meanwhile, a pair of updated or all-new SUVs are new to the countdown this week, starting with the 2021 Infiniti QX50. Cars.com reviewer Jennifer Geiger’s comprehensive critique of the luxury SUV checks in at No. 5. Geiger lauds the QX50 — redesigned for 2019 and updated for the 2021 — for its alluring looks and luxurious cabin, but dings it on powertrain refinement and multimedia usability.
“Ultimately, the 2021 QX50 dazzles on a superficial level thanks to a posh interior and elegant exterior, but it’s just not enough,”Geiger concludes. “There needs to be some substance under that style for it to live up to its price.”
The other newcomer is the all-new 2021 Genesis GV80, the first SUV from Hyundai’s luxury brand. Landing at No. 8 this week is our rapid-fire roundup of the things we like and don’t like about the GV80. Attractive exterior styling, luxurious interior appointments and engine offerings are among the pros, while cons include the price premium for the V-6 engine and stingy rear cargo room.
Beyond that, we have news on Kia, Ford, the Hyundai Palisade and the Ford Bronco Sport, so keep reading. Here are the top 10 news stories Cars.com readers couldn’t get enough of in the past week:
1. Discontinued Cars of 2020 You Can Get a Deal On
2. Xenon Vs. LED Headlights: What’s the Difference?
3. What’s the Best End-of-Year Car Deal?
4. What’s New from Kia for 2021?
5. 2021 Infiniti QX50 Review: Pretty, Flawed
6. Which Electric Cars Are Still Eligible for the $7,500 Federal Tax Credit?
7. What’s New for Ford in 2021?
8. 2021 Genesis GV80: 6 Things We Like (and 2 Not So Much)
9. What Was It Like to Own a 2020 Hyundai Palisade for a Year?
10. 2021 Ford Bronco Sport Review: Who Ordered the Budget Land Rover?
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