This hotly contested segment has its benchmark in the Lexus ES 300. It blends comfort, style, luxury, and sport into an efficient package at an affordable price. ES 300 manages to offer a little more luxury than others in the class.

We Recommend the Acura TL, Audi A4, and new Infiniti G35. All offer comfort, speed, and nimble handling at attractive prices. The sporty and Euro-flavored BMW 3-Series is Recommended as a rear-drive alternative. The "3" has enough bodystyles and engine choices to suit anyone. At the other end of the near-luxury spectrum is the posh and comfortable Buick Park Avenue--an old-school luxo-cruiser from Detroit.

Volvo soon starts rolling out an expanded group of entry-level cars, all-new in most respects save general size. A redesigned S40 sedan debuts this summer, followed in the fall by an updated wagon retitled V50. Both retain front-wheel drive. Due sometime next winter is a new XC50 wagon with all-wheel drive and SUV-like styling that may involve a unique, taller 4-dr body. XC50 will be a kind of kid brother to Volvo's large XC90 luxury SUV. A front-drive coupe labeled C50 completes the lineup, reportedly sometime in 2005. All these cars will look like Volvos, but are built on parent Ford Motor Company's new "P1" global platform that's also destined for the next-generation Ford Focus and Mazda Protege. Late word is that all 40/50 models get a new 2.0-liter Volvo-built 4-cyl engine as standard, with light-pressure turbocharging available. C50 and XC50 will also offer an optional turbo 2.4-liter I5 with around 200 hp. Later on, Volvo may add a sporty R-model sedan, wagon and coupe with the 5-cyl and AWD. Volvo's small-car overhaul comes none too soon, as 40-Series sales plunged a whopping 30 percent in calendar 2002 vs. the year-earlier period.

Volvo is also readying a smaller 30-Series for the European market, and is said to be studying U.S. sale. America would likely get a 4-dr hatchback and perhaps a sporty wagon-shaped coupe based on the European Ford Fiesta with front drive and 4-cyl engines in the 1.8- to 2.0-liter range. No word on when we might see the baby Volvos, but one source says it could be early next year.