You don't have to buy an import to get a decent compact SUV (or crossover as some call them). There is a good alternative built in the USA by Ford -- the Ford Escape.
Regardless of what you're hearing these days, America's Big Three automakers build some quality vehicles. Here are 10-plus-1 rides worth a second chance.
Ford showed off its upcoming 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid and Mercury Milan Hybrid yesterday at the company's product development center, emphasizing more all-electric driving and class-leading fuel economy.
Hybridcars.com reports on a variety of promising fuel and propulsion system technologies on display at the Western Automotive Journalists' meeting in South San Francisco last week.
Mercury improves its gasoline-electric hybrid sport-utility vehicle for 2008 with updated styling, additional safety equipment and a new, lower-priced version. But fit and finish nits and unsophisticated handling of unsprung weight at the wheels detract.