The Volkswagen New Beetle is a car introduced by Volkswagen in 1998, drawing heavily on the design cues of the original Beetle. Based on a Volkswagen Golf, the "retro" design proved to be more successful in some markets than in others. It is assembled at the VW Puebla factory in Mexico. The big contrast between the New Beetle and the Classic Beetle is that, like most cars, the New Beetle has the engine in the front and storage in the back. At the 1994 North American International Auto Show, Volkswagen unveiled the J Mays-penned "Concept 1", a concept car with futuristic styling deliberately reminiscent of the original Beetle's rounded shape. It is a cabriolet, which retains the flowing lines of the sedan, yet captures the chic looks of the original Beetle cabriolet. It was equipped with "large diameter" 17 inch wheels (with the VW logo, just like the original Beetle hubcap) with low-profile tires. Strong public reaction convinced the company to move the car into production, and in 1998 Volkswagen launched the New Beetle, designed by J Mays and Freeman Thomas at the company's California design studio. Still, it carried many of designs reference to the old Beetle: separate wings, vestigial running boards, sloping headlamps, large round tail light, as well as a high rounded roofline that provide enough headroom for tall drivers. In stark contrast to the original, the U.S. Insurance Institute of Highway Safety gave the New Beetle among the best safety ratings in its class at the time of its launch. The car was widely considered a flop in Europe, but it was a success in the United States. There, marketing campaigns enhanced the continued goodwill towards the original, and helped the new model to inherit it. The Volkswagen New Beetle was Motor Trend's Import Car of the Year for 1999. A convertible version of New Beetle started production two years after launch, after many buyers had aftermarket conversions.
The Toyota Sienna is a family minivan currently manufactured by Toyota at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indiana in Princeton, Indiana, United States for the North American market. It replaced the first-generation Previa van in 1997 with a more conventional front wheel drive layout and shares a heavily revised platform with the Camry. Both the Previa and original Sienna were smaller than the other minivans they competed against, but a redesign in 2004 increased the dimensions to match those of its competitors. The Sienna is currently the only minivan in its class to offer all-wheel-drive. It was redesigned a second time for the 2011 model year. In January 2004, the second-generation Sienna was unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show. Production shifted to Princeton, Indiana, and the former Georgetown plant was retooled to build the second generation Camry Solara. To make the redesign more successful, Toyota assigned Yuji Yokoya as chief engineer on the new Sienna project. Yokoya and his family drove the previous Sienna over 53,000 miles (85,000 km) throughout North America to find weaknesses from the previous model. The new redesign continued to offer the CE, LE, and XLE trims along with a new, more luxurious, leather-trimmed XLE Limited model.
The most distinguishable difference on the XLE Limited model is the horizontal chrome bar placed above the rear license plate. All Siennas were now powered by an updated ULEV certified 3.3-liter 3MZ-FE V6 engine paired with a new 5-speed automatic transmission. The gear-shift lever was also moved from the steering column to the lower-center center console area, and moved in a zig-zag pattern similar to the Lexus RX. New styling allowed for a coefficient of drag figure of 0.30 Cd. Fuel economy was rated at 17 city/25 highway (16 city/22 highway for AWD) under revised EPA estimates. The Sienna comes standard with anti-lock braking, brake assist, electronic brakeforce distribution, traction control and a tire-pressure monitor. Side torso airbags, and side curtain airbags were standard on certain 2004 and 2005 model trims while optional on others, but became standard on all 2006 trims. Vehicle Stability Control initially optional on lower trims became standard for 2008 models.
