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GMC Envoy XUV

GM TO KILL XUV: Slow sales have now officially sealed the fate of the GMC Envoy XUV, the clever SUV with a pickup truck bed and retractable roof that GM launched with much fanfare and great promise less than two years ago.

People who bought the XUV really love it, according to GM, but there just weren't enough folks who loved it. Pet owners were apparently big fans because it allowed them to keep their dogs protected inside the vehicle in the enclosed pickup bed, which could be hosed down quite easily.

The primary problems seemed to be that it was very pricey ($42,850 to $51,240) and for that much money and size of vehicle most people want seven seats.

John Cooper Works MINI Cooper S Cabrio

MORE MINI MODELS: BMW has long said it plans more variations on the Mini than are currently available, and those will be a step closer to market when the company expands the brand's assembly plant in Oxford, England.

The Munich firm has said nothing officially about which models might appear in 2006 (probably at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September), but it's widely believed that they will include a station wagon and a roadster.

By the time the models are completely designed and the plant in motion, it would likely be the spring of 2007 before we saw the new Mini models in Canadian dealerships.