2011 Mustang coupe premium: The pony car horse race

When General Motors and Ford release car sales for the month of August, a lot of attention will be focused on one category that is inconsequential to business performance but huge in terms of bragging rights: pony cars.

Or to put it in starker terms, the sales race between the Ford Mustang and the Chevy Camaro.

These are high-visibility cars that get starring roles in movies and attract hard-to-please younger male buyers, MORE

2011 BMW 535i sedan: Keeping with tradition

For all its popularity, ownership of a BMW still resembles membership in a club.

How many other car manufacturers hew so consistently to their history and traditions, so much so that their owners have even developed their own distinctive language and nomenclature?

BMW owners refer familiarly to the "dual kidney grille" that adorns the front end of every BMW, as well as the "Hofmeister kink." For non-initiates, that's the forward bend in MORE

Meet the original Joe

By Beth Kowitt, reporter

Founder Coulombe sold his eponymous chain in 1979.

Since leaving Trader Joe's more than two decades ago, founder Joe Coulombe has had little to do with the grocery chain. He lives a few blocks away from current CEO Dan Bane in Pasadena, but he claims they never talk shop. These days Coulombe, 80, is more interested in oil painting and organic gardening. But his fingerprints are MORE

Letter from China: The U.S. embarrassment at the World Expo

Fortune senior editor Jennifer Reingold is filing dispatches from China, where she is traveling with Procter & Gamble CEO Robert McDonald to observe the company's growing emphasis on Asia.

Chinese Pavilion for Shanghai 2010 Expo (Renato Ganoza/Flickr)

Aug. 18, 2010, Shanghai

How would you portray your own country to the world if you could choose literally anything? If you're Germany, you'd build an amazing biodegradable structure with shots of the MORE

Letter from China: Where the consumer is queen

Fortune senior editor Jennifer Reingold is filing dispatches from China, where she is traveling with Procter & Gamble CEO Robert McDonald to observe the company's growing emphasis on Asia.

The apartment could be in an wealthy neighborhood in Paris or Manhattan: a gleaming kitchen with coffeemaker, a balcony with a child's bike perched outside, and his and her laptops. Instead, it belongs to an eager representative MORE

2011 Buick Regal CXL: Surprise from a sleepy brand

When General Motors went through its bankruptcy restructuring last year, one of the big surprises was its decision to let Pontiac and Saturn go -- and keep Buick.

After all, Pontiac was remaking itself as the American BMW under the watchful eye of Bob Lutz, while Saturn possessed the best dealer network of any American car brand.

Buick, by contrast, was viewed as the car for old fogies that had resisted all MORE

AmEx: Happy workers mean happy customers

The credit card company wanted to give its customer service department a makeover. The first step: asking employees what changes they wanted to see.

By Christopher Tkaczyk, reporter

COMPANY SNAPSHOT

Headquarters: New York City

Employees: 27,265 in the U.S.; 35,340 outside

The Business: A $26.7 billion credit card and business and travel services organization

American Express (AXP) has always prided itself on its customer service; CEO Ken Chenault lists delivering superior service as one of AmEx's MORE

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2011 Cadillac CTS Coupe Premium: A sedan in sporty clothing

When it comes to originality and distinctiveness, the Cadillac CTS Coupe is a winner. The brand's chiseled in-your-face presence has been heightened and refined through several model changes, and made even more dramatic in the coupe body style.

There are simply no other cars like the Coupe. In its stance, proportions, and details, it is unique.

But don't mistake the CTS for a sports coupe. Like the accessories in a Ralph Lauren MORE

2011 Lincoln MKS AWD: Ford needs to raise its luxury game

CEO Alan Mulally's One Ford strategy has been a big hit so far, and Ford's recovery from the 2008-2009 recession has outpaced its competitors. But Mulally has missed out on a sizeable chunk of global business this year, and that is the boom in luxury car sales.

Led by China, affluent buyers in many parts of the world are pouring back into the market, with Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi the big MORE