Consumer Guide® Automotive places each vehicle into one of 17 classes based on size, price, and market position. Among utility vehicles, Compact SUVs are the least costly and offer the best fuel economy. Most utilize a car-type chassis and are not designed for heavy-duty, off-road use. Nearly all are five-passenger vehicles.

Our Best Buys include the Ford Escape, Honda CR-V, Mazda Tribute, and the Mercury Mariner. Our Recommended picks are the Honda Element, Hyundai Tucson, Jeep Liberty, and Subaru Forester.

Our moles say Vue will get a "midcycle freshening" for 2006. No word yet on specifics, but "midcycle" suggests a full redesign is a good 4-5 years off. There had been talk of a hybrid powertrain option for '06, but we'd be surprised if it appears then, given the current state of Saturn sales and GM hybrid-vehicle plans.

But Vue will get a larger stablemate for 2007. Built on GM's new Lambda "crossover wagon" platform, it reportedly starts production in late 2006. Buick and GMC versions respectively follow 6 and 12 months later. None has a name yet. Sources say the Saturn will offer V6 power and choice of front drive or AWD. The engine is said to be a new design sized at 3.5 or 3.9 liters and equipped with GM's Displacement on Demand (DOD), which shuts down half the cylinders at light throttle loads to save fuel. An optional DOD V8 is reportedly on tap for sometime later. Saturn hopes its Lambda will bring in 100,000 sales a year.