Lexus RX: The strong get stronger

If you've loved the Lexus RX for the past decade, you won't be able to keep your hands off the new one. This third-gen soft-ute does everything for which it has been celebrated--providing a stylish, nontruck experience, lathered with luxury froth and festooned with technical widgets--and does it better than ever. This is no mere facelift.

Toyota sets 2010 Prius price at $22,750

The redesigned 2010 Prius hybrid goes on sale in late May at a base price of $22,750, including freight. Later this year, a stripped-down base model will go on sale for $21,750, including shipping. The third-generation Prius comes with a 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine producing 98 hp.

Forecasters see slow auto-sales recovery through 2011

U.S. auto sales in 2010 and 2011 will continue to crawl -- not walk or run -- out of last year's recession, according to forecasters at the Auto Industry Hot Topics Conference here. “It's going to be a long crawl out of this, but we're crawling in the right direction,” said David Wyss, chief economist for Standard & Poor's, which co-sponsored the conference along with J.D.