Consumer Guide® Automotive places each vehicle into one of 18 classes based on size, price, and market position. Midsize Cars represent the heart of the U.S. car market. Most are price-sensitive, conservatively designed, family oriented sedans and wagons.

Our Best Buys include Honda Accord and Toyota Camry. Our Recommended picks are the Ford Fusion, Hyundai Sonata, Mercury Milan, and Saturn Aura.

New or significantly redesigned models include the Saturn Aura.

Our moles say Grand Prix goes away after 2008, but can't say for sure what comes next. General Motors is likely mulling two choices. One is a new front-drive midsize car using the global Epsilon II architecture slated for the next-generation G6. The other is a rear-wheel-drive Pontiac sedan, possibly with V8 power, on the company's new Zeta platform. The Zeta seems to have the better chance at the moment, as some GM execs want future Pontiacs to be nothing but rear-drive cars. We may get a clearer picture at the January 2007 North American International Auto Show, where Pontiac will reportedly have a concept said to preview the Grand Prix's replacement, which could be dubbed G8.

The Zeta platform should also support a successor to Pontiac's late GTO muscle car. This would be an underskin cousin to Chevrolet's reborn, Zeta-based 2009 Camaro, with a similar choice of V6 and V8 power but very different styling and perhaps dimensions. One source says a next GTO would use Cadillac's rear-drive Sigma platform, but we doubt that, as it would likely make the car too costly for its intended market. In any case, a new GTO is reportedly not on the schedule, at least right now.