General Motors

2010 Cadillac CTS

Cadillac CTS Sport Wagon

Base price: $44,325

Cato: Why has it taken Cadillac so long to create a wagon version of its CTS premium sedan? The CTS, now in its second generation, is a very credible car and should be – but isn't – the centrepiece of a Caddy strategy that mimics BMW with its 3-Series. You see, BMW always starts with one 3-Series sedan, then spends the next seven years or so introducing another 16, 17 or 18 3-Series variants. Cadillac now has two versions of the CTS. It's a start.

Ted Laturnus for The Globe and Mail

2010 Mercedes E-Class Coupe

Mercedes-Benz E-Class Sedan/Coupe

Base Price: $58,600 Coupe/$62,900 Sedan

Vaughan: Dear Grandpa: Don't go. Don't trade your stately E-Class for one of those racy Bavarian things or – gasp – something from Japan or Korea. Stick with the venerable German luxury brand that was top banana back when you were. The new E-Class is your reward for your decades-long loyalty. This new one is a classy, technological wonder that's not for the young whippersnappers but for you, Grandpa, who is so devoted to the Three-Pointed Star. Dieter Zetsche with his bushy mustache and your other friends in Stuttgart haven't let you down.

eb.andriuolo

2010 BMW 7-Series

BMW 7-Series Sedan

Base price: $105,200

Cato: Is there another car this big and this luxurious that drives this well? We don't think so. I mean, really, the 7 is a monstrous car. You need an aircraft hanger to park it. But does it ever go. The 7 is heavy, but feels light; it glides away quickly like a sports car, but there is room in the trunk to stuff a Z4 roadster. The elegant exterior sheet metal, penned by a Canadian no less, is not jarring in the least.

Wieck

Audi A8 L 6.0 quattro

Audi A8

Base price: $95,000

Cato: The mostly aluminum A8 is a treat for the autobahn. I've had an A8 up to 250 km/h in Germany, passing the locals and waving my Canadian passport as I left them in my rear-view mirror. I am sure many wondered about that and also wondered what I was driving. Though the design is not particularly gripping, we like this car for the engineering. It's a quick, lightweight saloon with massive cabin room and a sure-footed all-wheel-drive system.

Porsche Panamera Turbo

Porsche Panamera

Base Price: $115,100

Vaughan: Some people mock Porsche – supposedly the pure sports car company – for making a four-door sedan. But half the Porsches built today are Cayenne SUVs because you've got to make a buck in this business. And the Panamera will make sacks full. The money's-no-object crowd will want one in the driveway. And if they ever take it farther than the country club they'll discover it's totally worthy of the Porsche badge.

2010 BMW 5-Series GT

BMW 5-Series GT

Base price: Not available

Vaughan: It's a BMW what? GT? Gran Turismo? You mean like a Ferrari? No, like a huge SUV. The Bavarians have me completely confused with this one. It's just like the X5 but with a sloping back-side. But it has the most advanced gasoline engine BMW has ever built for production, plus their first eight-speed automatic transmission. It has an elegant cabin that you can seal off from the area in front of the tailgate when you are hauling sheep manure back from the garden centre. GT? No. Sales? Yes.