It's not the kind of launch you want a new range-topping luxosedan to endure. This morning, photos of the new 2009 BMW 7-Series ended up splashed across the Interwebs, through Flickr. It's uncertain if some dope put these embargoed pics on their account and thought they were marked "private," or if they liberally applied the fair-use doctrine to their own timeline.

Whatever the case, here are the lo-res versions of the 7-Series galleries minus all the Photoshop festooning applied to those Euro hooligans. The official word and pics on the 7er come down next week, and we'll bring you more on it then--as well as from the Paris auto show in October. Meanwhile, savor the somewhat soft-focus shots of the 7-Series' new tail, markedly cleaner interior, and more refined silhouette.

We've driven the all-new 2009 Dodge Ram 1500. And what do we think? Drum roll please …

The truth is this: We can't tell you anything about how the new Ram drives. Not one stinking thing. Not how the improved HEMI accelerates. Nothing about how the new coil spring rear suspension handles. Nada about its cargo-hauling capabilities or how it compares to the competition. All of this must wait until August 31, when Chrysler's embargo on driving impressions lifts.

Until then, go here to see what we can tell you about the 2009 Dodge Ram 1500. But read on for some insights picked up during this press event that have nothing to with Ram driving impressions.

Jim Press, Chrysler vice chairman and president, talked with us extensively about what Chrysler LLC sees happening in the truck market. Press said, "We see the truck market getting back to normal—when people who needed trucks bought trucks." He continued, "We're coming out of a period where people who didn't need trucks bought them, and fuel prices are moving them out of this segment." Seems like common sense is coming back to driving the truck market. This shift in buying will help change the face of the truck market, and more than one Dodge engineer mentioned that they saw the opportunity for a unibody truck product emerging to fill the needs of pseudo-truckers. Remember the Rampage concept from the 2006 Chicago auto show? This truck was referenced in conversations by several Chrysler people.

This press event also confirmed that new powertrains are in the big Ram's future. At the Ram's 2008 Detroit Auto Show unveiling Dodge announced that a new light-duty Cummins diesel would arrive in 2010. The dual-mode hybrid drive system found in the Dodge Durango and Chrysler Aspen will also find its way into the Ram 1500 in about the same time frame. The new piece of engine news is the V-6 engine that's under development. The current 3.7-liter mill is coming to the end of its lifecycle, so we're glad to hear general murmurs about the new engine. As is the trend today, expect it to carry direct injection. Engineers were mum on details or time to market, but we're thinking sometime after the 2011. This is good news for the Ram, as the current 3.7 is not an impressive engine by any measure.

Stay tuned for more on the Ram, and we'll get you a full review with driving impressions as soon as the embargo lifts.

Suzuki says its new sports sedan will bow at an auto show in 2009--but it won't be the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

As Porsche has already confirmed, Suzuki will pass on attending the 2009 Detroit Auto Show. In doing so, Suzuki's abandoning Cobo Hall for more spacious digs at competing auto shows in Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York. No reasons were given for the move, only the statement that Suzuki "will not attend" the Detroit show next January.

While it's skipping winter in Motown, Suzuki is planning a raft of appearances at locally important and international auto shows next year. At one of them, the Japanese automaker will parade a new sports sedan that's been shown in concept form as the Kizashi and Kizashi 2. Shown here at the Tokyo show last year, the Suzuki Kizashi 2 was billed as "an emotionally appealing shape that reflects a dual focus on status and vitality in a way that generates excitement about its performance and heightens the pleasure of ownership."

Details are few on the production version of the sedan--including at which auto show it might first appear. However, the concept Kizashi 2 was powered by a 3.6-liter V-6 mated to a six-speed automatic transmission, a powertrain expected to appear in the real Suzuki sedan when it goes on sale. A hybrid version is said to be in the works as well.

Stay tuned for more from Suzuki and for more on the upcoming Detroit Auto Show.

Nissan has just announced pricing on its 2009 Maxima, which has been completely redesigned with new styling inside and out, 35 more horsepower, improved fuel economy, and increased standard equipment.

The new Maxima will start at an MSRP of just $29,290 for the Maxima 3.5 S, and $31,990 for the step-up SV model.

That continues the pricing overlap that’s existed with the current-generation Altima and Maxima, such that the Altima, at the top of its range, is actually the same price if not a bit pricier than the Maxima. The top-of-the-line 2008 Altima V6 SL starts at $28,670, but it bottom-lines at $32,230 by simply adding electronic stability control—an increasingly common safety feature—and the requisite nav-system package.

In that relative sense, the 2009 Maxima stands as a value, especially considering that, according to Nissan, it returns to its heritage as “The 4-Door Sports Car,” or 4DSC, as they like to say.

The new Maxima shares the same Nissan “D” platform that underpins the new Altima, Altima Coupe, and Murano, and is actually about two inches shorter with a slightly wider track. The so-called Liquid Motion design brings a new look, even if the proportions are about the same, and in the flesh the sculpted rear fenders especially stand out.

TheCarConnection.com recently had the chance to spend a full day in the new Maxima, on some of Southern California’s best, more serpentine mountain roads between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, and left the driver’s seat very impressed.

Of course we were wary; as we’ve mentioned before, the outgoing Maxima suffers from pronounced torque steer—a tendency for the steering wheel to pull to the side under hard acceleration, or for the steering to unwind in a less-than-smooth way coming out of a sharp corner and hard onto the gas. The Maxima is still a front-wheel-driver, but engineers have worked some magic underneath—in the way of revised suspension geometry and reconfigured steering—that no longer makes it an issue.

On our drive route, we especially appreciated the 3.5 SV with the Sport Package; yes, there was a little more impact harshness over bumps, but handling felt considerably more secure. And while steering effort has been reduced, the steering feels more intuitive near the limit and even communicates the road surface a bit—thanks to a new twin-orifice unit that’s vehicle-speed-sensitive and has the quickest ratio of any Nissan. For those with mostly straight roads and frost heaves, we recommend the standard suspension.

What we weren’t so enthused about—as before—is the continuously variable, automatic transmission (CVT). Nissan says that the manual transmission isn’t coming back, as only 2 percent of buyers were opting for it when it was most recently offered. The Jatco CVT, which in Drive functions shifts "steplessly" to choose the most economical ratio for the type of driving, works well during leisurely driving, raising revs a bit when accelerating and dropping them way down when cruising. But it doesn’t work so well for twisty, hilly roads where quick power or engine braking are required for the best control. That’s where a new sport mode comes in; slide the shifter to the left and it simulates the ratios of a manually controlled automatic transmission. The function works well but can be annoying as it’s not always predictable how it’s going to respond; sometimes it produced quite a bit of engine braking on downshifts, for example, and other times almost none in situations seemingly almost identical. Paddle shifters are available, and they even did it right—they stay stationary while the steering wheel rotates.

The upside remains the very distinctive interior; take a look at the instrument panel and you’ll see why. The so-called Super Cockpit concept feels sporty and comfortable and clearly puts the Maxima’s interior in a class above the mid-size crowd, including the Camry, Accord, Altima, and Malibu. There are attractive-looking soft-touch materials throughout—except maybe the oddly textured, glossy dash top—and the front seats are easy to get in position for a wide range of drivers. We especially recommend the upgraded seats that come with the Sport Package. The same compliments can’t be said about the backseat, however; the back of the front seats are scooped out, which helps lower legroom, but most adults’ knees will still be above the scoop area, and the standard, huge power moonroof recess extends all the way to the backseat headroom, leaving a weird roofline that doesn’t allow enough headroom for six-footers.

There were a few other niggles inside; hands reaching for the paddle shifter for a downshift sometimes nudged the turn signal. And vehicles without the nav system get an odd-looking orange monochromatic screen that borders on unsightly. And Nissan supposedly spent lots of time working to give the Maxima an exhaust sound that sounds sportier from within the cabin, but with the CVT holding revs up near 6,500 rpm when blasting up to speed the smooth V-6 is droning too much like a raucous turboprop at takeoff.

But refinement and comfort are still a high point. The Maxima has a ride that’s almost as smooth and serene as the Avalon, while being more capable, yet it’s not quite as nervous as the TL in its Type-S iteration. We even started getting out of the car without knowing the engine was ever-so-quietly still idling (as we do on occasion with Nissans). But this is not news--the Maxima has had this sort of smoothness and top-of-the-class acceleration for about two decades.

Features aplenty give the Maxima a luxury-car feel inside, even if it doesn’t include the luxury-nameplate dealership experience. Available conveniences include a Bose premium audio system, hard-drive navigation system with 9.3GB Music Box hard drive, XM NavTraffic, XM Satellite Radio, Bluetooth interface, and iPod interface. A heated steering wheel and cooled front seats are now even on the options list.

They’re back calling it the 4-Door Sports Car, as they did in the Maxima’s ’90s heyday. But in these days of the $29,310 Pontiac G8 GT V-8, HEMI V-8 Dodge Chargers for about $31,000, and the company’s own 306-hp, rear-wheel-drive Infiniti G35 sport sedan starting only slightly higher, that’s a far harder claim to keep up with. —Bengt Halvorson

Ford's plan to fast-track its new 2009 F-150 pickup truck has hit a big snag: $4-a-gallon-gas. As a result of booming gas prices, the company will delay the launch of the new truck by several months.

Ford said in a release today that it is taking "decisive action to respond to this accelerating shift in customer demand away from large trucks and SUVs to smaller cars and crossovers." In addition to cutting production of other large trucks, Ford will push back the launch of the new F-150 by two months, putting it in showrooms in late fall.

"Our plan all along has been to introduce the new F-150 after our dealers had a chance to sell down inventory of the existing model," Ford president Mark Fields said in a release, "and - with the current slowdown in the marketplace - we decided it was prudent to adjust the start of public sale for the new truck by about two months."

Ford needs the time to clear inventory of 2008 models, but the move will almost ensure that the company will turn a loss for the fourth consecutive year. The company will also idle truck plants in Kansas City and Dearborn, and cut a production shift at both plants, while it adds production for the Ford Escape, Edge, and Flex crossovers. A third shift will be added to the Focus plant as well, giving Ford more compacts to sell as its newly updated 2008 Focus stays an unexpected hit.

Ford also confirmed today that its European Ford Focus will replace the current car in late 2010, and will be built in North America. Four- and five-door versions of that new compact will be offered for sale in the U.S.