To Quote This Months "Car & Driver"

[VehiGAZ]

I believe this was definitely a "diss" b/c it implies that the VX didn't sell well.

I know I'm going to piss a few people off uttering this, but, well, the VX didn't sell well. The first ones may have sold for full sticker plus, but the last 2001 models sat on dealer lots for up to 2 years before being dumped - discounted as much as ~$8000 discounts (according to members' posts on this site, anyway). If that was after 200,000 sold, it would not be a sign of disaster. But in a run of 4000-4500 vehicles in the US, that's not so good.

my main gripe is that they have a very distinct Honda/BMW bias. Very rarely do those cars ever lose in comparison tests.

...because Honda & BMW are clearly and consistently the two best automakers in the business. They build a better mousetrap - just because C/D points that out doesn't make them biased. Do you think they are biased against Ford because Ford builds crappy cars?