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Let's go back to the year 2006. We had wars in the Middle East, rising gas prices, and the quietly looming specter of an economic recession. Basically, the same situation we find ourselves in today. One major difference though was the new car market. While the world economy was starting to smoke out of the edges, car makers were mostly adhering to tried and true formulas to lure buyers. However, many automakers were beginning to seriously dip their toes into alternative energy, such as hybrid and flex-fuel capable cars. 2006 was of course the year of Al Gore's documentary, An Inconvenient Truth. No doubt a growing number of Americans were becoming interested in reducing their carbon footprint, if not their dependence on foreign oil. 2006 then represents a car market in the beginning of a transition as manufacturers attempt to navigate a future that appears far less certain than it did at the start of the decade.
Acura
The brand new RDX represents Honda's first turbocharged production engine in North America. Honda would not offer another turbocharged product until the 2016 Civic nearly a decade later. Today, turbocharging is a common way for all car makers to boost performance and fuel economy in their products from supercars to compacts.
Audi
2007 was a big year for Audi in the US. The R8 supercar would launch as a 2008 model and serve as a well-deserved halo for the brand. To understand how special the R8 was to Audi, I recommend watching this video by Doug Demuro where he includes the R8 as one of the most important new cars of the last thirty years. Audi was in the midst of a product renaissance in the 2000s that put it firmly on the same level as BMW and Mercedes-Benz. The second groundbreaking model introduced at this time was the Q7, Audi's first sport utility vehicle. That it took Audi until 2006 to enter a market that had been breached by Mercedes-Benz in 1997 and BMW in 1999 really shows how backwards Audi was at the turn of the 21st century before leadership worked decisively to turn the company around.
BMW
Nothing new from BMW for 2007. Probably the most significant thing from this section is how small the lineup was back then. In 2007, you could buy from just seven model lines. Today, that's equal to just the number of different SUVs BMW sells.
Buick
Talk about a blast from the past. To anyone younger than twenty, Buick's 2007 lineup is completely unrecognizable. The brand new Enclave represented the future for the brand and is in its third generation today. Lacrosse might produce a few nods of recognition. But ask teenagers about Lucerne, Rainer, Rendezvous, and Terraza, and I'm guessing you'll get a lot of blank stares.
Chevrolet
Twenty years of monetary inflation stinks. To understand why, look no further than Chevy's 2007 lineup. In 2007, you could still buy a Chevy Aveo for less than $10,000. A Corvette was $45,000. The Silverado, Tahoe, and Suburban, each all new for 2007, could be had for $22,705, $34,190 and $37,190 respectively. You could even buy the previous generation Silverado for only $16,740! Today, top-trim versions of all three of these models can kiss six figures. One more thing about the new Silverado, it was named the 2007 North American Truck of the Year. Sporting a fresh, modern design inside and out, plus engines employing active fuel management technologies to boost fuel economy, it walked away with the award and was later also named Motor Trend's 2007 Truck of the Year.
Chrysler/Dodge
Remember when you could walk into a Chrysler/Dodge dealership and actually find a full lineup of cars, trucks, and SUVs? Compare that to today where the Chrysler brand is represented by a single minivan and your choice of new Dodge comes between an oversized, overpriced muscle car and an SUV that's old enough to get its own driver's license.
Ford
The new face of Ford debuted in 2006 with the Fusion sedan and continued in 2007 with the Edge crossover. Even today, the original Edge still looks futuristic. It certainly made some other models in Ford's lineup such as the Freestar, Freestyle, and Escape appear positively prehistoric by comparison. A redesigned Expedition and the Explorer (one year removed from its last redesign) bridged the gap between the two design eras.
GMC
I recently heard rumors that the GMC Acadia was originally supposed to be a Pontiac. And honestly, you can kind of see it in the front end design. The Acadia was one of several new front-wheel-drive unibody crossovers meant to replace the older and truckier derivatives based on the Chevrolet Trailblazer. The new construction and driveline configuration promised better ride quality and fuel economy than their predecessors.
Honda
When it comes to significant debuts, you can't do much more significant than a new CR-V. To understand just how different the new car market in 2006 was from 2026, you simply need to look at the best selling new vehicles of that year. The Ford F-150 and Chevy Silverado were still one and two, but rounding out the top ten were were Toyota Camry, Dodge Ram, Honda Accord, Honda Civic, Chevrolet Impala, Toyota Corolla, Nissan Altima, and Chevrolet Cobalt. The Ford Explorer was the best selling SUV in 2006 and only managed to come in 15th place. Meanwhile the Honda CR-V was a distant 19th in sales. The 2007 redesign improved things in a big way. By the end of the year, the CR-V was ranked 10th in overall sales. And last year, the CR-V was ranked fourth just behind its arch rival Toyota RAV4. In 2006, rising gas prices were driving Americans away from large SUVs and the next few years were marked by automakers racing to find ways to keep buyers in their showrooms. Some, like Honda were well prepared. Joining the new 2007 CR-V was the Civic just one year into its latest generation as well as the brand new subcompact Fit. Cheap to buy and cheap to run, the Fit spearheaded a new breed of small cars that appealed directly to efficiency focused American drivers.
Hyundai
SUVs may have been falling out of favor at this time, but Hyundai was prepared to play the long game by launching the second generation Santa Fe and the first ever (and only as it turned out) Veracruz. The Santa Fe was available with five- or seven-passenger seating and two V6 engine choices. A four-cylinder engine would not be available until 2010. Standard safety features included six airbags, stability control and four-wheel disc brakes all around. Much improved quality and a low base price of $20,945 made the Santa Fe an enticing proposition. The larger Veracruz featured standard seven-passenger seating. While not a successful model for Hyundai, sales only peaked at 12,589 in its first year on sale, it paved the way for the current Palisade which reached a record 123,921 sales in 2025.
Infiniti
2007 belonged to the second generation G35, arguably Infiniti's only product that seriously competed with sports sedans from German luxury brands.
Jaguar
Still one of the best looking grand tourers ever made, the second generation XK coupe and convertible were veritable spaceships next to the retro rubbish they were forced to share showrooms with. If an Aston Martin V8 Vantage was too expensive for you, the XK made a fine alternative.
Jeep
Without a shadow of a doubt, the single most significant new car for 2007 was the Jeep Wrangler Unlimited. It is impossible to overstate what adding two additional doors did for the Wrangler specifically and the Jeep brand in general. It seems like a no-brainer today, but it took Jeep's leaders over 20 years, and even longer depending on how many of Jeep's CJ series you want to count as predecessors to the Wrangler, to determine how many sales they were losing by limiting the spiritual center of their brand to two doors. The rest as they say is history. Now equipped with four doors, families could buy into the rugged Jeep lifestyle. This is especially evident in current sales figures with Unlimiteds accounting for over 85 percent of new Wranglers sales.
Kia
Back in 2007, Kia was not the power player it is today. As such, its 2007 catalog is populated by ghosts it has tried to distance itself from. Obviously Sportage and Sorento are still around. And Optima, Rio, and Sedona are recent enough that you can still see late model versions of each nameplate on the road alongside their renamed descendants. But consider yourself lucky if you come across an Amanti, Rondo, or Spectra in your travels.
Lexus
The big deal at Lexus was an all new LS. Redesigned from the ground up, a long-wheelbase version was offered for the first time along with the world's first eight-speed automatic transmission. Top spec LS 600h L was the first ever V8-powered full hybrid vehicle.
Mazda
The brand known for "Zoom-Zoom" took a major step in a new direction with the launch of two SUVs: the two-row CX-7 and the three-row CX-9. It is a common misconception that the CX-7 and the Ford Edge are related. Even though Ford owned a controlling stake in Mazda at the time and both cars competed in the same segment, they were built on completely different platforms. The CX-7 was built on a customized Mazda 3 and Mazda 5 platform and was powered by a turbocharged engine from the Mazda 6. However, the Mazda CX-9 did share a platform with the Edge.
Mercedes-Benz
The storied German brand aimed high in 2007 with redesigned versions of the CL and S-Class plus the first ever GL-class three-row SUV to go up against the Audi Q7, Lincoln Navigator, and Cadillac Escalade.
Nissan
Big year for Nissan as Sentra and Altima are redesigned and Versa is a completely new model line. Overall, Nissan seems well positioned to attract cash-strapped buyers. But wait, what's this I hear about a new GT-R coming soon?
Porsche
Porsche spent 2007 fleshing out the 997 generation 911 with four variants: a 415 horsepower GT3, 480 horsepower Turbo, and Targa 4 and Targa 4S models with a sliding glass roof and four-wheel drive. Coming soon will be Porsche's long-awaited double clutch gearbox dubbed PDK.
Saturn
I'd be remiss for not mentioning the 2007 North American Car of the Year, the one and only Saturn Aura. It was a fine car even if it had none of Saturn's original spirit in its Opel derived bones. Still see an occasional Ion, Sky, and Vue on the road. Let me know if you find an Outlook or a Relay.
Subaru
Autoweek chose the Legacy 2.5 GT spec.B for its featured Subaru. Not a new car for 2007 but it had an upgraded six-speed manual and Torsen limited-slip diff. The spec.B was basically a WRX for grownups and certainly was the halo model of the last desirable generation of Legacy before the bloated and bland 2010 redesign.
Suzuki
The SX4, offered as a small sedan and a hatchback for the American market, was a peach. Unfortunately it was not enough to save Suzuki's collapsing US sales.
Toyota
Toyota swung for the fences in 2007. All new Tundra was a legitimate threat to American full-size pickup trucks. Redesigned Camry was so good its styling has influenced every subsequent generation since. Plus it introduced a hybrid model for the first time, a remarkable case of foresight as now every new Camry leaves the assembly line with a hybrid powertrain. The industry's retro phase had plateaued somewhat by 2007, but Toyota reckoned their would be enough buyers who would go for its new FJ Cruiser, a stylistic callback to FJ40 Land Cruisers of years past. It worked, with the FJ Cruiser lasting seven years before being cancelled in 2014.
Volkswagen
I talked about Volkswagen in my last blog post, and a lot of the problems I noted with the brand were present even back in 2007. The biggest problem was that the cars were just too expensive. The new Eos was pushing $30,000 which was a lot, but there wasn't much else like it on the market at the time. Bigger offenders were the Jetta and Passat. A new Jetta went for $17,000 while a Toyota Corolla went for $14,800. And a new Passat cost an eyewatering $23,580 while the Camry mentioned earlier could be had for just 18,985. And don't even get me started on the Touareg. With a base price of $38,660, you could buy a Chevy Suburban for the same money.
Volvo
Wow, I didn't realize Volvo had nine distinct models on sale for 2007. Good for them.
