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Next-gen Chevy Cruze caught cruising in the cold

Spy photographers have caught what looks like the next-generation Chevrolet Cruze out on snow patrol. The camo could be tricking our eyes, but it look like it has an even tidier, more rounded front end and even lower fenders in relation to the top of the hood. And either a chunk of camo has been wedged between the side mirrors and the doors, or the mirrors are up for revision, too.
The door handles have been moved up the side of the car, leading the way to a rear end that grows a bit in length. If the rumors are true, the coming second-generation Cruze sits on the new D2XX platform that will replace the Delta and Theta platforms at General Motors. A global architecture, the Cruze will be the first to get it, but it will underpin everything from next Chevrolet Volt to the Equinox and could be responsible for 2.5 million units by 2018. The next Cruze is expected to begin production in GM's Lordstown, Ohio plant in the third quarter of 2014.

2023 GM full-size SUVs get Super Cruise expansion pack first

In August, GM announced it had doubled the size of the network of roads available to its Super Cruise hands-free driving feature. Joining the options list in 2017, Super Cruise had been limited to divided interstate highways in the U.S. and Canada. The expansion opened 200,000 miles of additional divided interstate highway as well as major, undivided highways. Both coasts benefit, but there will be a lot more relaxing motoring on the East Coast especially. North of the border, six of the 10 Canadian provinces add enabled roads. Problem is, no GM vehicles have been able to take advantage of the boon. That changes this month, the automaker saying four of its full-size SUVs in specific trims are first in line to make use of the expansion. The SUVs are: 2023 Chevrolet Tahoe Premier and High Country 2023 Chevrolet Suburban Premier and High Country 2023 Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV, and Escalade-V 2023 GMC Yukon Denali Ultimate  The vehicles need to have been built on or after October 3, 2022, a production timeline GM says should put the first examples in customer hands this month. The least expensive way to get into Super Cruise is with the two-wheel drive, $77,625 Chevrolet Tahoe Premier with the 3.0-liter inline-six Duramax diesel and the Advanced Technology Package. Vehicles that use the GM's Vehicle Intelligence Platform electrical architecture and already have Super Cruise will receive an over-the-air update "in the coming months" to access the new roads, at no cost to owners. Since other products like the Cadillac CT4 and CT5, Chevrolet Silverado, and GMC Sierra work with the VIP platform as well, they probably aren't far away from the extra capability and they'll bring a lower financial bar to entry.  Related video:

Poor headlights cause 40 cars to miss IIHS Top Safety Pick rating

Over the past few months, we've noticed a number of cars and SUVs that have come incredibly close to earning one of the IIHS's highest accolades, the Top Safety Pick rating. They have great crash test scores and solid automatic emergency braking and forward collision warning systems. What trips them up is headlights. That got us wondering, how many vehicles are there that are coming up short because they don't have headlights that meet the organization's criteria for an "Acceptable" or "Good" rating. This is a revision made after 2017, a year in which headlights weren't factored in for this specific award. This is also why why some vehicles, such as the Ford F-150, might have had the award last year, but have lost it for this year. We reached out to someone at IIHS to find out. He responded with the following car models. Depending on how you count, a whopping 40 models crash well enough to receive the rating, but don't get it because their headlights are either "Poor" or "Marginal." We say depending on how you count because the IIHS actual counts truck body styles differently, and the Infiniti Q70 is a special case. Apparently the version of the Q70 that has good headlights doesn't have adequate forward collision prevention technology. And the one that has good forward collision tech doesn't have good enough headlights. We've provided the entire list of vehicles below in alphabetical order. Interestingly, it seems the Volkswagen Group is having the most difficulty providing good headlights with its otherwise safe cars. It had the most models on the list at 9 split between Audi and Volkswagen. GM is next in line with 7 models. It is worth noting again that though these vehicles have subpar headlights and don't quite earn Top Safety Pick awards, that doesn't mean they're unsafe. They all score well enough in crash testing and forward collision prevention that they would get the coveted award if the lights were better.