1.   There were sports cars and clunky family sedans.

2.   And that share will almost certainly go higher, given that the Koreans have an array of vehicles under development, from upscale family sedans to midsize sport utilities.

3.   A week in a silver Passat GLS convinced me that VW has cleverly carved out a niche in the crowded market for mainstream midsize family sedans.

4.   But the tires are hardly what you would want to slap on the family sedan.

5.   But there is a limit to what people will pay for a decent everyday family sedan, and we may well have reached that with the current crop.

6.   But, quirks notwithstanding, the Passat is best thought of as another important reason for the recent improvement of midsize, fairly economical family sedans native to America.

7.   Chrysler earnings fell as the company idled factories to convert them to production of redesigned LH family sedans and the new Durango sports utility.

8.   Chrysler earnings fell as the company idled factories to convert them to produce the redesigned LH family sedans and all-new Durango sports utility.

9.   Compared with the Concorde, the ride is stiffer, the dashboard more sporting and the whole package geared toward younger drivers who, grudgingly, need family sedans.

10.   Driving a low-horsepower family sedan does not take the same skills as handling a high-performance sports car.