This is the international debut of the fifth-generation Legacy and its slightly off-road derivative, the Outback. It follows the Legacy show car spoiler that we criticized earlier this year at Detroit, and our view hasn't changed much since then: this is one of the poorest new production designs we've seen for a long time.

As we detailed in our show car coverage, the flared wheelarches are crude and overly large - although this is less of an issue for the Outback: the swollen wheelarches better suit its SUV connotations. The overly deep DLO and crude wing motif grille emblem also remain, as do the cheap-feeling interior plastics.

But look closer and there are even more uncomfortable aspects to the design. The standard-fit plastic side skirts of the Legacy look aftermarket in their design and in their fit and finish. The intersection of lines and surfaces creates weak points and leads the eyes into dead ends; this is particularly evident around the sides of the grille and at the rear corners. On the Outback the gray plastic appliqué on the lower body side oddly runs far higher up the doors than it does ahead of the front wheels or behind the rear wheels (something all of its competitors and its predecessor successfully avoid) and the sump-guard jutting out at the front is a flimsy plastic fake.

The interior is thematically similar to the Impreza, and as such is a retrograde step compared to the previous-generation Legacy, which although slightly anodyne was handsome and well-executed. Indeed the presence of the previous Outback on the Subaru stand in New York served to show how much more desirable this older design is in every respect.

The only aspect we can find to report positively on is the roof bars on the Outback, which are ingenious. A bar running longitudinally on each side can be disconnected at one end and pivoted to run sideways across the roof.

Like many people in the industry, we have a soft spot for Subaru and its unique engineering approach, but we fail to understand why it continues to allow design to seriously undermine its business.

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Subaru Legacy concept - Detroit Auto Show 2009

The changes to Land Rover's heavily revised Discovery unveiled at the 2009 New York auto show yesterday (April 8) are so significant that the British company decided to give the SUV a new name: the Discovery 4.

The new car reveals a softer exterior appearance brought more into line with the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport by utilizing the Range Rover's hexagonal grille (but with two vanes rather than the three on the Range Rover), plus more jewel-like lights. These lamps now have LEDs that highlight their circular shape for a sharper nighttime down-the-road graphic. Overall, the aim with Discovery 4 was, as design boss Gerry McGovern puts it, "to try to reduce some of the visual bulk" of the outgoing model while keeping key Discovery features like its upright stance, simple bodysides and stepped roof (to allow six-foot adults to sit in comfort in the third row), all of which remain.

The interior is all-new. Every surface has become more dynamic and the whole theme moves away form the overtly functional Discovery 3's, which McGovern concedes some customers found "too brutalist". Thus the instrument panel, doors and center armrests are now wrapped and stitched in soft-touch materials, and the reconfigured center console angled more towards the driver. The new seating for rows one and two offer a longer cushion for better support, and the leather covering them is stitched less tautly to provide more comfort and a greater sense of luxury.

This final point sums up what is evidently the thrust of the project: to move the Land Rover Discovery 4 further upmarket towards Range Rover territory.

More than just a model-year tweak, the 2010 Range Rover unveiled at the 2009 New York Auto Show features two technological advancements in its significantly upgraded interior, plus some subtle exterior changes.

The first technological addition is a center touchscreen that offers a 'dual-view' system, whereby the passenger can watch a movie while the driver concentrates on the satnav, for example. This system has also seen application in the Opel/Vauxhall Vectra and certain Japanese-market Toyotas. In the Range Rover, more of the 'less used' functions have been integrated into the touchscreen's functionality, enabling the design team to reduce the hard button count by almost 50 percent - from 50 to 29.

The other technological innovation is the fitment of the world's largest TFT (Thin Film Transistor) display under the driver cowling. Replacing conventional driver dials, the 12-inch screen displays 'virtual' instruments and other driver information configurable via a new five-way controller on the steering wheel. A further interior enhancement on the Autobiography range is the use of high-grade leather trim for the full headliner, pillars and door casings. Wood still features - either piano black or walnut - and the IP top is wrapped and stitched. Fit and finish both looks and feels world-class.

Exterior changes are less major but include a prouder, more upright mesh grille, a more sculpted bumper, shallower front lamps and the addition of LEDs to accent their signature interlocking design. New three-fingered indicator lights to the sides of the front face are mirrored by three similar details on the side vents and on the rear light indicators too - which are now all-LED.

Elements of this exterior execution can be seen on the 2010 Range Sport, also launched in New York. It features two- rather than three-finger indicators and side vent detailing to differentiate and explain the range connection. The 2010 Range Rover goes on sale in July 2009.