Martin Padgett, Editorial Director

Martin Padgett avatar
Martin Padgett is Internet Brands Automotive Group’s Editorial Director. He ensures the quality of content across the Group’s portfolio of automotive destinations, which include The Car Connection, Motor Authority, and Green Car Reports. Padgett oversees the editorial development of each site, as well as vehicle reviews and evaluations that are unique to The Car Connection, including its numeric TCC Rating scoring system. He also guides deeply sourced industry reporting at each site, from first drive reviews of the latest supercars and electric vehicles, to in-depth analysis of topics that range from EV charging to the future of gas-powered trucks and SUVs. With a career that spans more than 30 years, Padgett has reported on the automotive industry since he joined Car and Driver magazine in 1991. Prior to joining the startup site that would become The Car Connection, he wrote for other prominent automotive outlets including AutoTrader, Edmunds, Automobile Magazine, Stuff, Outside, and BusinessWeek. As a juror for the prestigious North American Car and Truck of the Year awards, his insights and evaluations play a vital role in recognizing excellence within the automotive industry. Padgett is a native of Washington, D.C. He graduated with a BA in history with honors from Duke University. He earned an MFA in narrative nonfiction writing from the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communications in 2018. In 2023, he completed his PhD in U.S. Constitutional history at Georgia State University.

Articles

  • With fewer pounds, more horsepower and a new model year on its Monroney, the 2012 Porsche Cayman R makes its first public appearance at the 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show.

    In a clever reveal, Porsche's...

  • 2010 LA Auto Show: 2012 Mazda Mazda5 Live Photos

    Put on a happy face--that's what Mazda is doing with the Mazda5, the pert little Euro-sized MPV that's been refreshed for the 2012 model year. The Mazda MPV is on display this week at the 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show, wearing the new grinning front clip that's related to the smiley faces on the...

  • Alabama Drive-Thru Pioneers Self-Service, Of A Kind

    The great state of Alabama may not always be a pioneer, except in barbecue or football. Despite the state's restrictive sales laws, Alabama will be the first place in the union where you can buy adult toys at the drive-thru. While nearby Louisiana sticks with tried-and-true drive-thru daiquiri...

  • 2011 CES Picks 2012 Ford Focus As Official Car

    With the year drawing to a close, it's time to set your phone reminders to January 6-9 for the annual 2011 Consumer Electronics Show, CES. For the car crowd, the CES has become an important stop on the show circuit, thanks to in-car technologies like SYNC, iDrive and iPad making their ways into the...

  • NASCAR TV Show In the Works?

    Would you tune in to NASCAR, not on Sunday race day, but on "Must-See TV?" A report out of Hollywood suggests NASCAR is lending its drama to NBC for "The Crew," a new drama that unfolds with the racing series as a backdrop. From the pen that brought you the short-lived superfriends drama Heroes...

  • Mercedes-Benz Syncs Up with Apple, RIM for Pandora, Video

    Mercedes-Benz is adding to its tech bona fides with a new Media Interface Plus. Earlier this month, the automaker unveiled an iPad kit for European customers, at the Paris auto show. The kit mounts owners' Apple tablet devices behind the front headrests, and puts the iPad in easy reach of back-seat...

  • The 2011 MINI Cooper Countryman will carry a base price of $22,350 including destination charges when it goes on sale at the end of this year.

    Automotive News reports from this week's media launch...

  • Now Mercedes-Benz Is In on the Apple iPad Act, Too

    The Apple iPad has become an intriguing accessory for cars. The Hyundai Equus comes with one containing its owners' manual. We've seen one jammed into a Toyota Tacoma dash. At the 2010 Paris Auto Show, the 2011 BMW X3 posed with dual iPads hooked on clever mounts to its front headrests. Now...

  • First Drive: The Ford C-Max We Don't Get (Probably)

    This past weekend, while most of you were enjoying a first real taste of fall, High Gear Media spent a Saturday drilling around the mountains above Cannes in the 2012 Ford C-Max. That's in both versions--the "Grand" C-Max coming to the American market in about 14 months, and the shorter...

  • 2011 Dodge Charger: First Official Photos

    Dodge has just released these first photos of the 2011 Charger sedan. In a full release, Dodge says the 2011 Dodge Charger "will rev up showrooms during the fourth quarter of 2010." Earlier this year, Chrysler began trickling out some images of its revamped 2011 lineup, including the 2011 Jeep...

  • No New Continental in Lincoln's Future

    Ford [NYSE:F] is damping speculation that it's developing a new flagship sedan in the mold of the former Lincoln Continental. The Continental was one of the signature vehicles in the Lincoln lineup from the 1930s through the 1970s--the mini-brand was sold under its own nameplate, before it became...

  • MINI Countryman Set for World Rally Car Debut

    With MINI's return to rally racing imminent, the BMW brand brought a special concept car to the 2010 Paris auto show--the Countryman World Rally Car it intends to use, to re-establish itself in the racing series. With new Formula 1 rules for the WRC now in place, the 1.6-liter four-cylinder MINI...

  • Before its world premiere this week at the 2010 Paris Auto Show, the world knew the details on the 2012 Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class sedan. Now, the demimonde of auto journalists and Parisians know how...

  • 2010 Paris Auto Show: 2011 Porsche 911 Speedster and GTS

    It's near the end of the life cycle for the current 911, so the appearance of dueling versions of the current car--the new 911 Speedster and the 911 GTS--at the 2010 Paris Auto Show will close out this generation of the famed sports car with a bang. The Speedster reconnects the 911 to the days of...

  • 2010 Paris Auto Show: 2012 Audi RS5 Live Photos

    Audi first teased U.S. fans of its S5 coupe with an RS5 version at the Geneva motor show. Then, it waged a buff-book campaign to win more converts--and to make a case for bringing the super-powerful coupe to the States. The enthusiasts won, and now the RS5 is destined for Americans eager to get...

  • 2010 Paris Auto Show: 2011 Audi A7 Live Photos

    Though it's been previewed earlier in the year, the 2011 Audi A7 made its formal debut at the 2010 Paris Auto Show with the trendy slope-back style pioneered by Mercedes-Benz, and adapted heartily by Porsche. On the A7, the hatchback, four-door-coupe stance works much better than on the Porsche...

  • 2010 Paris Auto Show: 2011 BMW X3 Live Photos (With iPad!)

    BMW outlined the U.S. specs of its 2011 X3 crossover earlier this month, and at the 2010 Paris auto show, it displayed the new South Carolina-built SUV for the first time in public. The new creases and folds do good things for the X3's sheetmetal. The ute loses some of the slab-sided appearance of...

  • 2010 Paris Auto Show: 2011 Range Rover Evoque Live Photos

    What began life as the LRX concept is now official: the 2012 Land Rover Range Rover Evoque is headed for production, after a world debut at the 2010 Paris Auto Show. The crossover vehicle takes the heritage of Land Rover's rugged off-roaders and translates it to compact, two-door size. The $45,000...

  • Ford opened its 2010 Paris auto show festivities with a crash--of a snare drum as it gave its new Focus ST performance hatchback a rock-star introduction near the Champs-Elysees a few hours before...

  • Lamborghini Sesto Elemento concept debuts at 2010 Paris auto show

    After weeks of thumbnail-photo teases, the covers come off the Lamborghini Sesto Elemento, a new concept car on display tonight with other new vehicles from the Volkswagen Group as a part of the 2010 Paris auto show. The name derives from Italian for "sixth element" on the periodic table...

  • 2010 Paris Auto Show Coverage

    Concept cars, green cars, electric cars--new cars. It's all coming to the 2010 Paris Auto Show at the end of this month, and High Gear Media is gearing up to bring you wall-to-wall Paris coverage starting...now. The show opens tomorrow to the media, but we've already previewed some of the dozens of...

  • Spy Shots: The 2012 Mediocrity, or A Waste of Our Time?

    Here at MotorAuthority, we get spy shots of upcoming vehicles from different sources--trusted lenspeople scouring the deserts and tundras of the world, just trying to hustle and make a dollar. Sometimes they come from readers like you (and we like that). And every so often, our own crack team comes...

  • Range Rover Evoque: Five-Door Cover's Blown

    The 2012 Land Rover Range Rover Evoque three-door is heading to this week's 2010 Paris Auto Show, but a stealthy five-door version that had been planned for a debut later this year has instead hit the Web. The five-door Evoque was due to be presented at the 2010 Los Angeles auto show, according to...

  • SEMA 2010: Hyundai Genesis Coupe Gets ARK-ed

    The 2010 SEMA show comes to Las Vegas at the end of October, but Hyundai's getting ahead of the aftermarket action by releasing these sketches of its Genesis Coupe, as re-envisioned by ARK Performance of South Korea. ARK's Genesis kit takes the basic 306-horsepower, 3.8-liter V-6 found in the Coupe...

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