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2019 Subaru Forester vs. 2020 Honda CR-V Car Seat Test

We've had our long-term 2019 Subaru Forester Touring for some time now, and I've had my large son's car seat in it — and out of it, and back in it — a fair number of times. Installing a car seat over and over is a pain, but the Forester is actually a pretty good car for it. The rear seat is roomy, the door opening is large and the car seat is generally easy to install. For a few short days, though, I also had a 2020 Honda CR-V Hybrid in the driveway alongside the Subaru. Mostly stuck at home in quarantine, I wasn't getting a lot of chances to drive the two cars back to back, but comparing something like a child's car seat in each car is easy enough without unnecessary trips and potential exposure to coronavirus. So, with my son along for moral support, I lugged his car seat out of the garage and got to strappin'.  In terms of backseat roominess, the Forester and CR-V are competitive. On paper, they're very close, with the Forester offering 39.4 inches of rear legroom and 39.6 inches of headroom, and the CR-V providing 40.4 inches of legroom and 39.2 inches of headroom (the fact that I tested a Hybrid makes no difference). For each, I moved the front passenger seat forward to a reasonably comfortable seating position, keeping a sizeable gap between my knees and the dashboards, and eyed them up. They look damn near the same, each offering lots more space in the second row than my wife's 2013 Mercedes-Benz GLK that I'm usually putting the car seat into. Even the openings are close in size and shape, perhaps with the Forester getting a slight advantage in ingress/egress for one's feet, which matters little when installing the boy's Chair Force One (officially a Britax Frontier ClickTight). First, I tried the car seat in the Subaru. It's really easy. There's no angling the seat to wedge it in the door. Just walk up and plop it down. I thought for sure the Forester would take the win here, but when I went to put it in the CR-V, it was equally simple. Once installed, both still offer plenty of room behind the front seat for a child to swing their legs around without kicking the seat back. With just one child, we often find ourselves putting one of the rear seats down to accommodate more items, like when we're hauling gear up to our cottage for a vacation — or just going to Costco. If we're picking a side of the car, we usually put our boy on the passenger side.

U.S. auto sales fall in July, as Detroit dials back on inventory, rental sales

DETROIT — U.S. carmakers said on Tuesday they continued to slash low-margin sales to daily rental fleets in July as General Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles struggled to curb a slide in retail sales. July is on track to be the fifth straight month in which the annual pace of car and light truck sales declined from the same month a year ago, in part because of fewer fleet sales, analysts and industry executives said. July 2016 sales hit a strong 17.9-million-vehicle pace. GM said the seasonally adjusted annual sales rate fell to an estimated 16.9 million vehicles in July. At midmorning on Tuesday, GM shares were down 3.4 percent at $34.77, Ford was down 2.8 percent at $10.91, and Fiat Chrysler shares were down 0.3 percent at $12.05 in New York. GM sales dropped 15 percent from a year ago to 226,107 vehicles, as the company cut rental fleet sales more than 80 percent. The automaker said inventories of unsold vehicles at month's end were 104 days, down from 105 days at the end of June. GM has promised investors to reduce inventories to 70 days by year-end. Ford said its July sales dipped 7.5 percent to 200,212 vehicles, as it cut fleet sales more than 26 percent. Inventories fell to 77 days from 79 the previous month. Fiat Chrysler said sales dropped 10 percent to 161,477, as it also cut back sales to daily rental fleets. Among the top Japanese companies, only Toyota reported a year-to-year gain, with sales up 4 percent to 222,057 — just 4,000 units behind GM. Honda sales were down 1 percent to 150,980 — its first-quarter sales continuing to decline in North America but seeing a big increase in China. And Nissan sales fell 3 percent to 128,295. GM, Ford and Fiat Chrysler have cautioned that second-half financial results likely will be lower than first-half results, in part reflecting production cuts in North America and pricing pressures. The automakers this year have been deliberately dialing back sales to rental-car companies, which often generate little to no profit, while struggling to keep retail sales from sagging further, according to industry analysts. Industry consultant LMC cut its full-year forecast for new vehicle sales to 17 million vehicles. Automakers sold a record 17.55 million vehicles in the United States in 2016.

Honda Civic Hatchback production design pops up in patent shots

Here's a surprise (not!) – the production Honda Civic Hatchback is going to look almost exactly like the concept Honda Civic Hatchback. We can make this judgment based not on common sense, but on a round of patent images uncovered by the Hondaphiles over at the CivicX forums. Notice we said "almost exactly like the concept." There are some obvious changes on this new five-door hatch compared to the Geneva Motor Show showcar, particularly on the front and rear fascias. In back, the twin center-exit exhausts are gone (boo – though those might come back for hotter Si or Type R models), with no visible outlets on these images. In front, the overall look of the fascia is the same, but we're betting it will be toned down – expect less gloss black trim and a smaller chin spoiler. While it goes without saying, the new Civic Hatch will also ditch the more traditional concept car trimmings. Those big wheels, aggressive side sills, and neon-green accents also won't make production. But the good thing here is how true the production model will stay to the concept. The rear spoiler is still there, and the overall look of that shapely rear end is unchanged. And of course, from the B-pillar forward, this is the same Civic we've enjoyed in both Coupe and Sedan varieties. While it's a safe bet that these images are legit, we couldn't find anything in the US Patent and Trademark Office's website. We've reached out to Honda to get confirmation on these pics. Stay tuned. Related Video: