2011 Detroit Auto Show Media Day's Wrap Up

2011 NORTH AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL AUTO SHOW HIGHLIGHTS
Exclusive Press Pass Coverage of the Most Important Auto Show in the US

By Steve Purdy
TheAutoChannel.com
Detroit Bureau

Opening ceremonies at the North American International Auto Show here in Detroit included Karl Brauer of Edmunds.com announcing winners of the North American Car and Truck of the Year competition, one of the most prestigious awards in the US car business. More of an insiders program, the awards are juried by 49 independent, tier-one, US and Canadian automotive journalists.

Finalists for Car of the Year were Chevrolet Volt, Hyundai Sonata and Nissan Leaf. Since a Sonata line includes a hybrid we could consider this the first time all finalists reflect alternative powertrains.

The winner is the innovative Chevrolet Volt, an extended-range electric compact sedan poised to change the entire game, some judge’s thought. In accepting the award on behalf of his team GM VP Tom Stephens said Volt represents “the essence of the new General Motors.”

Finalists for Truck of the Year were Dodge Durango, Ford Explorer and Jeep Grand Cherokee. This may be the first time Chrysler had two finalists.

The winner, though, is the Ford Explorer, significant for transcending traditional body-on-frame SUV architecture to become a unibody CUV. The execution is excellent and reviews have been consistently strong.

If we could discern a theme permeating the 2011 NAIAS it would have to be the prevalence of small cars. With rising gas prices and continuing economic troubles many automakers are leveraging investments in the small end of the market. Small no longer means cheap or tawdry as we can see in many new offerings. Time will tell whether the public will buy into the trend.

Having been absent from the Detroit show for a few years Porsche began the day’s press conferences by presenting their new 918 RSR hybrid race car powered by a mid-mounted, 565-hp V8 and featuring an innovative system of storing extra energy in a flywheel system. Some think Porsche will return to LeMans racing with this car.

Buick presented Verano, third new sedan in three years for GM’s surviving mid-luxury brand. It shares the global platform, but not much else, with Chevy’s new Cruise compact. While Cruise moves slightly upscale in just about every way from it’s precursor Cobalt, the Verano moves considerably up from there with the same luxurious details as Regal and LaCrosse, that is, ambient lighting, “library quiet” and all the luxury goodies – a fine looking car with excellent content.

Chevrolet introduced the new Sonic subcompact. We’re assured there was no conflict with the ubiquitous drive-in restaurant chain with that same name. Replacing the undistinguished sub-compact Aveo, Sonic will, they believe, be both profitable and fill an increasing need for small, economical, but nice, little cars. Sonic will be built on the same assembly line as Buick’s Verano in the freshly redesigned Orion Township, MI plant.

Camaro Convertible shared the spotlight at Chevrolet. No news there. We knew it was coming, what it would look like and most other details. We were not surprised either that it was shown in orange.

Big news at Ford surrounded two production vehicles and one beautiful concept. Slated for production are a new minivan called C-Max, based on the new global Focus architecture, and the full-electric Focus to be at dealers yet this year. C-Max is a “5+2-passenger” all-activity vehicle designed to be versatile in interior configuration and economical on the road. The third attraction at Ford - one of the best-looking concept cars on the floor - the swoopy Vertrek, hints strongly at the next generation Escape.

Another “V” car comes from Hyundai – the sporty little urban fun car called Veloster. Hyundai, as our astute readers will know, has introduced one hot vehicle after another these past few years with each one finding surprising acceptance in the market. Not only has the Korean company gotten a firm handle on quality and reliability but now they introduce each new car and CUV with more style and substantial content. The Veloster will be in production soon. Hyundai also stretched its design muscles with a sporty little concept called Curb, an urban-style ute doubling as a test bed for next-gen infotainment and navigation technology.

Sister Korean company, Kia, also revealed their cool concept car, KV7. This one will not see production, at least in the form we saw here. This one is a boxy van with gull-wing rear doors and an interior with swivel seats that reminds us of night-club seating.

Over at Chrylser we find virtually every line of vehicles freshened or substantially redesigned under the tutelage of Italian (Fiat) management and co-ownership. Sergio Marchionne, the boss, does not believe in too much publicity and most of this has been done quietly. The new 300, 200, Durango, Charger and others have debuted elsewhere so not much news was made here. The retro-styled Fiat 500 promises to be great fun when it arrives soon. Cutest and tiniest thing on the floor had to be the little yellow original Fiat 500.

Some reviewers diss these new designs at Chrysler as too little, others find the updates amazingly good considering the struggle with that company over the past 10 years. I’m reserving judgment until I’ve had some seat time in them, but tend toward the latter view.

Mr, Marchionne, boss at both Fiat and Chrysler shared with a few selected press mavens a plan they are cooking up for Chrysler to build at its Detroit factory an upscale SUV for Maserati based on the Grand Cherokee and powered by a Ferrari engine.

Only one Chinese automaker (other than Volvo which is now a Chinese company) had a noticeable presence this year. BYD, a venture originally backed by investor Warren Buffett. brought two plug-in electric vehicles, a sedan and an SUV. They talked about plans to enter the US market in 2012 at a string of dealerships that would sell a variety of “green” products other than cars and trucks. From looking the vehicles over and talking to other industry observers it appears to this reporter that BYD is a long way from being ready for prime time. But, if history is any measure, they may surprise us.

Very little news has been good for Toyota in the last couple years. It appears that new product has not been a priority and they are in a retrenching mode. We saw a rather disappointing hint of the freshened Corolla in LA a couple months ago and they promise a preview of the next Camry in New York in April. Toyota’s news here was all about the expansion of the successful Prius line. They will be adding a more spacious, station wagon version of and a smaller sub-compact version as well. A small pickup truck and CUV may follow. In fact, Prius may become its own division, rather like Scion.

Most fun for the public at the Toyota stand will be an opportunity to make one’s own commercial on high-tech video equipment that will then be posted to YouTube. Race fans will find a room full of NASCAR stuff and an opportunity to talk to Toyota’s truck racing champ, Todd Bodine, as well.

Lexus teased us again with their LFA super car but had a more practical reveal in the CT200h small hybrid sedan. Lexis has more hybrids than any of their competitors.

Over the top in both technology and design, from my perspective, is the Mercedes SLS AMG E-Cell, a gullwing all-electric super sports car. A more conventionally powered SLS AMG with about a million horsepower is already in production. This electric version will be available in 2013 they promise. No word yet on price, range or other important details. You’ll probably have to squint as you pass this one because of its “lumilectric mango” (iridescent chartreuse) paint job. On a more practical note at Mercedes-Benz we saw a freshened C-Class small sedan and an S-Class diesel.

We overheard a bit of news revealed during a discussion with M-B boss Dieter Zetsche indicating that the Maybach brand may be going away. Its future is “under review,” Dieter says. This huge, expensive executive car has not found enough buyers. It doesn’t appear that the final decision has been made. Remember, you heard it here first.

A bit disappointing at the NAIAS this year was Volkswagon’s reveal of the new Passat midsize sedan to be built in the nearly ready factory in Chattenooga. I’ve always been a VW fan in spite of the bad luck I’ve had with many of the ones I’ve owned. The German sense of driving fun and expertise in powertrain engineering has been unmatched in the mainstream car class. With the beautiful CC Coupe introduced here a few years ago they even showed an admirable sense of style. We see little style in the new Passat. It’s as plain as white bread from the side view. Front and rear views are only slightly better. The interior, while uninteresting aesthetically, appears quite good in other respects. VW is moving down-market with the new Passat trying to bring the base car in at about 20 grand.

VW has made a big deal of their goal to be the world’s number one automaker, and be selling nearly a million cars a year in the US, by the end of this decade. I don’t think they’ll be able to do it without at least a little panache. For the nearly 12,000 folks whose jobs will depend on the success of the Tennessee factory, I sure hope this Passat is accepted, but I’ll not put any money on it.

The Mini Paceman Concept represents another in the seemingly endless variety of vehicles that can be built around the sporty little car genre. Being part of the BMW family allows for serious development resources and none are squandered here. They call this the first “Sports Activity Vehicle” from Mini. It resembles what we sometimes call a cute-ute but with just two doors and a hatch.

Appearing to be the most aerodynamic design at the show the hot-looking Honda Civic Si Concept previews the new Civic style. The last Civic was notable for its steeply-raked windshield. This one is even steeper.

The manufacturers’ displays help distinguish this year’s NAIAS as a more positive, upbeat event. GM has tentatively begun to go back to a two-level stand and Ford has a small, elevated test track in the center of theirs where they are giving electric car rides.

As usual Audi’s stand has the most drama and aesthetic appeal, while the other Germans are close behind with great use of color, light and dynamics.

NAIAS press days finish each year with presentation of design awards hosted by organizers of the EyesOn Design summer car show. Judged by current and retired A-list designers (like Willie Davidson, Jack Telnack, Bob Eaton, Ralph Giles and Ed Welburn) these are prestigious awards – one for concept cars, one for production cars - based exclusively on design criteria.

Bentley Continental (select to view enlarged photo)

The new Audi A6 beat out the amazing Bentley Continental and the elegant BMW 6-Series convertible for production car honors. In the concept class Porsche’s 918 RSR hybrid race car won over the Ford Vertrek (precursor to the next Escape) and Kia’s KV7 gull-wing minivan).

For the first time in many years I attended the show during one of the public days - in this case opening day. I had forgotten what fun it is to watch folks pour over the displays. One lad of about 12 carefully photographed the lanky blonde standing next to the yellow Ferrari. Packs of guy-pals roamed aimlessly from one stand to another checking out the biggest variety of cars in one place. I spoke to a large family of three generations from the shore of the Georgian Bay (about a 7-hour drive away) who said the Toronto show is fine but they must come here to really see cars. Young couples, old couples, every demographic group you can imagine are here kicking tires, climbing in behind the wheel of their favorites and chatting up the product specialists.

Auto shows draw enthusiastic folks in just about every mid-size and large city in the country, but Detroit is granddaddy of them all.