IN PICTURES: MOST IMPROVED CARS FOR 2009

The Year's Most Improved Cars

Remember the old Volvos? Loaded with safety features, but boxy and bland? As competitors began equipping their easier-on-the-eye cars with the latest in auto-safety technology to lure Volvo's customers, the automaker realized it needed to make some big changes.

But when automakers ask focus-group participants what they don't like about their cars, they don't hold back--and the automakers must respond. In Volvo's case, the company rolled out the S80 in 1999, the first in a now long line of vehicles that offered all Volvo's characteristic safety features wrapped in a sleeker package.

In Pictures: Most Improved Cars For 2009

While minor upgrades and enhancements are made in off years, extreme makeovers happen only every four to seven years. But today's harsh economic climate--with slower sales and tougher competition--will judge if the improvements hit or miss. Already, sales of cars and light trucks are down 8% for the first three months of the year, so misreading consumers' comments could mean even more lost sales, say auto industry analysts.

This year, 10 familiar models got major improvements for the 2009 model year. Some, like the Honda Pilot, Nissan Maxima, Ford F-150, Acura TSX and Audi A4, have been completely made over inside and out.

Others getting at least a face-lift for 2009 are the Nissan Murano, Toyota Matrix, Mercedes-Benz SL, Infiniti FX 35 and Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen.

Understanding Consumers
In focus groups, Honda Pilot owners said that the current model lacks style and personality and looks like an SUV that's incapable of going off-road (even thought it can). Ford F-150 pickup owners said that the cargo bed in the top-selling truck was too high off the ground to access easily. And Nissan Motor (nasdaq: NSANY - news - people ) owners said there was nothing "sporty" about the Maxima sport sedan.

The tricky part, however, is figuring out how to give customers exactly what they want.

Automakers' focus groups comprise a mix of current owners and consumers driving competing models. But the participants' opinions influence design decisions made at least three years before the revamped car's release, explains Jim Hall, managing director of 2953 Analytics, an automotive analysis company. That's why "focus groups should be used not to define but refine the product."

For automakers, that means careful analysis of consumers' complaints and finding innovative solutions.

"It is a lot of interpretation and understanding what the customer is looking for," says Mike Murphy, Ford Motor's (nyse: F - news - people ) F-150 marketing manager. Ford, however, didn't want to lower its truck to create better access to the cargo bed. "We decided to raise the customer," says Murphy, meaning that the 2009 F-150 has a side step mounted underneath the truck that pulls out when needed.

In the case of Nissan, "We were accused of being a wolf in sheep's clothing," says Mark Perry, director of product planning for Nissan sedans. The Maxima, the largest car in the Nissan lineup, was losing its identity to the Altima, a mid-size vehicle that was made bigger in 2002 and became more stylish and sporty in 2007. The Altima began to compete with the Maxima, says Perry. "It was time to get the king redone."

Nissan's customers wanted a sportier Maxima, so the 2009 model that launches at the end of June will have a wider stance, lower roof line and curves designed to give the car a distinctively sleeker look.

Similarly, the 2009 Honda Pilot will roll into dealer showrooms in May as a more aggressive and bolder SUV with a wider stance and a six-sided grille framed by large headlights. Though this Pilot is built off of a new car-based unit body designed for a smoother ride, it will still be able to go off-road--and now actually looks like it can, too.

And Audi A4 owners wanted a more aggressively designed car with a little more room. The front of the 2009 model now has large intakes and short overhangs for a more aggressive look, as well as additional knee room in the rear seat.

Others, like the Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen, Nissan Murano, Toyota Matrix, Mercedes-Benz SL and Infiniti FX 35 have undergone face-lifts and other cosmetic changes.

The Mercedes-Benz SL, however, got perhaps the most unique improvement of them all. SL drivers wanted to extend the top-down driving season, so on the 2009 model the German automaker is introducing the Air Scarf, a vent located in the head rest that blows warm air onto the backs of the driver's and passenger's necks.

A Power Boost
Major improvements also occur under the hood. Infiniti owners said they wanted more performance and luxury. The Infiniti FX 35 now has a 3.5-litre V6 engine that produces 303 horsepower, up from 280 horsepower in the 2008 model. Infiniti also upgraded the FX 50 model, which is powered by a 5.0-litre V8 engine pumping out 390 horsepower, up from 320. Both cars get an interior with "lots of quilted leather" on the seats and "200% more real wood--hand-stained maple" throughout the cabin, says Kyle Bazemore, an Infiniti spokesman.

But the upgrades automakers choose sometimes fail to take future market conditions into account.

Volkswagen pulled the diesel-powered Jetta SportWagen off the U.S. market 20 months ago in anticipation of the launch of the new SportWagen in August 2008. This restyled car is powered by a more fuel-efficient, all-new four-cylinder 2-litre common rail clean engine diesel. But at the time the decision was made, diesel was significantly cheaper. Now at $4 per gallon, Hall of 2953 Analytics says that the diesel Jetta SportWagen "is not going to be the slam dunk that VW thought it would be."

Volkswagen is unfazed, however. "We are bullish on diesel," says Keith Price, a VW spokesman.

Which design decisions were the right ones? It won't be any secret or mystery as to which vehicles will emerge as makeover winners or losers, says Tom Libby, senior analyst at J.D. Power and Associates. "The ultimate vote is with the pocket book."