As 2023 is slowly coming to a close, we wanted to circle back and share some of the things that happened throughout the year and provide a glimpse into what we have planned for the new year starting with the Best & Worst Drives of 2023 that our Metro Detroit branch office experienced this year.
Best: 2022 Maserati MC20 Coupe (V6)
In our Best category is the 2022 Maserati MC20 supercar. The MC20 is the last great expression of ICE performance for the Italian luxury car maker before it fully embraces pure BEVs. While a tri-motor Folgore model will eventually hit Maserati showrooms, our time with the twin-turbocharged V6-powered model revealed that the company has recovered some of its lost supercar mojo and the MC20 is proof that design and world-class performance can indeed exist in a package that has less cylinders and also undercuts many supercar rivals in the process.
Worst: 2023 VinFast VF8 City Edition*
A highlight for us this year happened this summer when we recieved an invitation from Vietnamese EV upstart company VinFast to travel down to California to check out the 2023 VinFast VF8 City Edition. We were intrigued by some of the things that VinFast was planning to do to stand out in the crowded EV market and we wanted to see for ourselves if the VF8 would be a good spearhead U.S. entry for the young company.
Unfortunately, the City Editions that we and a small group of other media experienced during our stay in Carlsbad were anything but ready for primetime with our tester having a whole myriad of pre-production glitches and an ADAS system that was far from useful and or helpful. The VF8 has an exterior design that was penned by the Italian styling house, Pininfarina, but the stylish clothes did little to distract from some of the notable flies that existed in the VF8’s ointment.
That said, we still look forward to seeing what’s next for the company in 2024 (the asterisk in this segment.) The flagship VF9 will begin making its way to showrooms soon and the standard VF8 model is now entering the U.S. too. These two models will be key in VinFast’s attempts to cement itself in the U.S. market with the Standard Edition in particular bringing more range and improvements to the VF8 versus the rushed City variant. For now, the company is focusing exclusively on the California market (due to that state’s unique EV sales landscape.) However, as it expands to other states, profitability and how well the VF9 and VF8 do in long-term sales will play a growing role in shaping the firm’s long-term future with the leash being relatively short when it comes to winning over hesitant buyers.
What’s Next In 2024
When the new year kicks into high gear, we will have plenty of surprises planned for our readers and visitors. While some of these items are still a work in progress, we invite you to visit our growing TikTok channel and stay tuned in just a few days, when we will travel down to the 2024 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas to cover what the conference has to offer while also launching our new gear-focused TikTok channel at the same time. (link will be provided in future content.)
In the meantime, Happy New Year and we hope you have fun celebrating it with your family and friends.
Carl Malek has been an automotive journalist for over 10 years. First starting out as a freelance photographer before making the transition to writing during college, his work has appeared on numerous automotive forums as well as websites such as Autoshopper.com.
Carl is also a big fan of British vehicles with the bulk of his devotion going to the Morgan Motor Company as well as offerings from Lotus, MG, and Caterham. When he is not writing about automobiles, Carl enjoys spending time with his family and friends in the Metro Detroit area, as well as spending time with his adorable pets.