Front wheel drive is commonplace on cars today. Its main advantage is that it allows for more interior space because there's no transmission tunnel cutting through the passenger compartment.

Another advantage is that it places the weight of the engine directly over the wheels that are being driven. That helps with traction on slippery surfaces. It also helps that the driver can turn the wheels in different directions to try to find better traction. That's something you can't do if power is going to the back wheels.

General Motors stayed with front-wheel for its large Cadillac DTS and Buick Lucerne cars (The Lucerne is shown here) because, it says, customers liked the security of FWD traction.