Detroit Auto Show Hangover: Impressions from Press Days
January 17, 2008

By AutoObserver Staff

DETROIT – The Detroit auto show party’s over – at least for the media; it only just begins on Saturday for the public. The confetti, which came in the form of cattle droppings this year, is cleaned up. The cars and trucks are locked so the public won’t steal radio knobs.

So what did we come away with? Automaker execs always ask: what did you think of the show? What did you like? What didn't you like? What did you think of this or that?

After another spin around the floor, here are some unvarnished impressions of the show from AutoObserver’s writers:

Contributor Dale Buss brings fresh eyes to the show, as he hasn’t been to one in several years. An auto writer for the Wall Street Journal in the 1980s, Buss left Detroit for a decade. Since his return, he has written about the industry for publications ranging from Chief Executive to Advertising Age, but now he is back covering the industry in earnest for AutoObserver. Here are Dale's observations of the show:

The Show Must Go On

They’re battling one another for a dwindling U.S. market; a recession may be underway; global-warming activists have them in their crosshairs; and even TV writers don’t seem to be cooperating with them. But for the dozens of top global auto executives who made stage appearances, “the show” was the only thing that mattered.

It had been several years since I attended Detroit auto show press days, but clearly the glitz component has waxed in the interim. Some OEMs’ half-hour presentations now rival small stage shows in their digital mastery and use of nifty gimmicks, such as the sheet of continuous “rain” that fell around the Land Rover stage before the brand’s presentation on Sunday. And in the foreground, well-coached sales and even technology executives handle mini-mikes and teleprompters with the aplomb of seasoned politicians and seminar speakers.

Some moments did seem over the top. One that comes to mind was when Franz von Holzhausen popped out of the driver’s seat of Mazda’s concept Furai only after the wrap was taken off 10 minutes or so into the company’s presentation. The North American design head emerged with his tanned and Nordic good looks and immediately began talking about how Mazda hopes to “blur the lines between street cars and track cars” with Furai.

But instead of beholding him like some sort of amateur David Copperfield, my only thought was: Didn’t he sweat like mad under that tarp?

“Green” Can Cut Two Ways

The show dramatically illustrated the limbo of double-mindedness that the industry has entered over the dilemma of bad-boy performance vs. energy sustainability.

“Green” was clearly the preferred color. There were more new hybrids, diesel options, flex-fuel vehicles and fuel-cell concept cars than ever before -- collectively demonstrating that the industry gets it and is rushing to the fore with energy-sparing new powertrains. In fact, speculation about whether Toyota would end up beating GM to market with a plug-in hybrid was by far the most intriguing competitive buzz at the show.

But the other cast of green was envy – as in horsepower envy. OEMs’ abilities to showcase earth-shaking new gasoline engines were almost as important here as their demonstration of styling chops. So for every new fuel-sipping system that seemed to validate their commitment to reducing our dependence on hydrocarbons, automakers also busted out some macho new model that would work at cross-purposes. Nissan’s 473-horsepower 2009 GT-R was on full-throated display; Hyundai unveiled its Genesis luxury sedan with a 375-horsepower V8 option; and Mazda’s concept Furai generated 480 horsepower from a rotary engine.

This juxtaposition is more than just a Detroit auto show curiosity; it already has become a problem for OEMs in terms of allocating their development resources and marketing their vehicles. And rather rapidly – introduced by $3-a-gallon gasoline, stoked by global-warming fears and accelerated by the looming U.S. recession – this also is becoming a haves-versus-have-nots issue.

Committed free-marketeers like me, of course, will say that the more choices the auto industry offers, the better – and let consumers sort it out. But here’s how more people are going to be thinking: Why is it OK for someone who can afford the $69,000 GT-R to gulp precious gasoline and spew carbon-dioxide emissions all over, at 473 horsepower, while only less fortunate – and, now, recession-haunted -- consumers are relegated to 35-miles-a-gallon fuel sippers? In this age of global-warming hypersensitivity, it may seem as indefensible as Al Gore’s energy-intensive globetrotting to spread his gospel of worldwide climate-based destruction.

Chinese: Not Ready for Prime Time

The storyline of the coming of the Chinese hordes to American automotive shores already has been playing out for a few years now – still without as much as a hint of Shanghai sheet metal landing on our beaches.

But at the Detroit auto show, Geely wrote an interesting new chapter in the long-developing saga, which underscored why Chinese automakers may not quite be ready for the bright and unforgiving lights of the U.S. market and even for our media and consumer culture. In fact, Geely’s presentation on Monday afternoon was an odd mix that demonstrated simultaneously both the company’s incredible potential to alter the global automotive business single-handedly – and the fact that it still has a long way to come before it can do so.

Just eight years old, the company is the largest non-government-owned automaker in China. It has been working on a North American distribution network for awhile. And in his brief outline of Geely, Frank Zhao, vice president of technology, reminded the assembled journalists about the mind-blowing numbers that are propelling Geely’s takeoff: four operating plants in China with another five expected to be running by the end of the year; two plants overseas and four more planned; vehicles ranging in cost from $6,000 to $60,000; eight new platforms in development for as many as 42 new models; 1,400 engineers already on staff. So basically, every year Geely is assembling an additional automotive enterprise roughly the size of Chrysler.

And cleverly, Geely also displayed its technological prowess by making Detroit the global debut stage for its new Blowout Monitoring and Braking System (BMBS), which it purports will make tire blow-outs safer – presumably at a lower mass-market cost than run-flat tires. “Most people don’t believe that Chinese [auto companies] are doing technological innovation,” Li Shufu, Geely’s chairman, said in answer to a reporter’s question about why Geely chose Detroit as the introduction venue for BMBS.

Yet, in other ways, Geely was all too ready to remind the gathered media why it still might not be ready for primetime. Sure, its press-day display was relegated to the Cobo concourse, where hundreds of journalists had to pack uncomfortably around Geely’s small stand. But the logistics were so bad that most of those gathered couldn’t see or hear the screens displaying a funny and effective long-format marketing video that Geely had put together as an introduction.

It also seemed to be bad form that the man who started out the session merely as Shufu’s interpreter actually turned out to be Zhao, the technology executive who had moved to Geely from Chrysler. Maybe there’s something about interpreter protocol that wasn’t obvious.

And finally, Shufu made a bad decision in flashing a perhaps stereotypical inscrutability in tackling the one reporter’s question that absolutely everybody wanted to have answered: When will Americans be able to buy Geely vehicles for real? Instead of offering some kind of timetable, however vague, which could substantiate that Geely actually is moving closer to a U.S. debut, Shufu dodged the question in a really awkward way that seemed to imply that the query was inane.

“We’re not sure when Americans are welcoming us to be here,” he said through Zhao. “When they welcome us, we’ll come.”

Huh?

Bill Visnic has been to a show or two in his 16-year career in automotive journalism. And with him, he brings a technical point of view since he specializes in technical, powertrain and business coverage of the industry. Prior to his new position as senior editor at Edmunds' AutoObserver, Bill was senior technical editor at Ward's Automotive Group, where he conceived and executed the Ward's 10 Best Engines program, now in its 14th year. Here are Bill's observations:

The Green Theme

What the hell’s a Hemi?

North American Car and Truck of the Year

The Chevrolet Malibu probably is the “rightest” NACOTY choice in several years. Affordable pricing and crisp styling are vital assets, but more important is the scope of the lineup, which includes a mild hybrid and a stout V6 variant; all are fully import-competitive. The only disappointment is the old-school 4-speed automatic for 4-cylinder models, but the truth is, most customers will never notice.

I was driving a Mazda CX-9 the week its North American Truck of the Year win was announced. It’s a fiendishly smooth and quality-feeling vehicle, with few foibles. But it is far, far from my definition of a truck.

Chrysler: Going Through the Motions

The orange Hemi-powered ’08 Challenger seems almost worthy of pity – the company’s half-hearted chest-thumping about the rash of 6,500 orders in three days notwithstanding – particularly when juxtaposed with the three semi-lame “enviro” concept cars Chrysler introduced for each of its brands.

The all-new Dodge Ram is okay but won’t budge a Chevy or Ford aficionado, and its interior finish is richer only when compared with the outgoing model. The ’08 Journey crossover isn’t exactly a festering wound, but apart from a couple of novel interior details, is entirely by-the-book.

Ford: Verve to F-150

The Verve concept looks superb and rich, but we, of course, get the trunk, while the hatchback is the real statement. Oh, they’re studying “market reaction” to the 3-door hatch. Let us make this real easy for ya, Ford: 4-door sedan = old folks. Three- and 5-door hatch: cool people and “youth.” For that you need market study?

But 2010 at the earliest? Are they kidding? This car should’ve been in showrooms six months ago. And not just because customers suddenly want fuel economy.

The all-new F-150 appears to be the outstanding execution we expect for the franchise player. But the era of 900,000-unit sales is over – probably forever. And is seven – seven! – trim levels and 35 configurations really necessary?

GM: CTS Surprises

Sign that the media thinks GM’s high-performance V-Series from Cadillac has earned its stripes: nobody shrieked in horror at the audacity of introducing the slightly over-the-top, 550-horesepower CTS-V sport sedan before the Caddy hybrid. Translation: if it’s still okay for BMW and Mercedes to hawk silly-horsepower engines, Cadillac gets a pass, too.

Caddy’s CTS Coupe Concept was a surprise in a show that no longer prides itself on that commodity. We like it, say, 85 percent. But those rear haunches have gotta get trimmed. Historically, these sharky, tense concept coupes have a way of being sacrificed for production, and the thing will end up being today’s CTS with two doors chopped off.

Saab’s 9-4x crossover concept is merely okay, and assertions that it borrows heavily from the radical Aero X concept are a stretch. Somebody at GM is going to have to understand the Saab badge doesn’t translate to trucky things and just let it be the “car” brand. Please.

The Hummer HX concept is nicely executed, but seems so 10 minutes ago – I seem to remember Jeep showing this same concept around 1995. With the HX and its V6 and cut-down dimensions and weight, GM at least acknowledges that it’s got to do something that instills at least a patina of enviro responsibility for this increasingly irrelevant brand that was founded, frankly, on exactly the opposite: the glories of idiotic consumption.

Toyota: Honey, I Shrunk the Ridgeline

I know I’m supposed to take seriously the LF-A concept, but whatever energy it originally had when first shown is fading after three years of looking at the thing in various iterations. And I know I’m supposed to accept this 500-horsepower supercar in the same context as Ferrari, but I can’t help thinking it’ll end up more SC430 than F430.

A-Bat concept: Honey, I shrunk the Ridgeline. Nonetheless, this is where compact pickups probably need to go.

Venza crossover: How to say “Camry Wagon,” without having to say “Camry Wagon.” Looks like a jacked-down Highlander, no way to improve a crossover that’s already a snoozer.

Honda: Opportunity Squandered 101

The all-new Pilot should’ve been Honda’s “we’ll-zig-while-you-zag” crossover statement. Instead, Pilot Prototype is the most embarrassing “concept” of the show. We’d like to say Honda stylists phoned it in, but that’s way too kind. This says styling of the production Pilot coming this year is so far behind the times, they telegraphed it in.

The saving grace is the beautiful and focused CR-Z hybrid concept. This is exactly the thing we expect Honda to be doing: marrying superb concepts with realistic opportunities. Hybrid power promises 50-mpg plus for this engaging 2-seater that looks so much more appealing than the freaky Insight. In short, if this is the reincarnation of the grand old CR-X, sign us up.

Nissan: No Show

Oh, you mean Nissan was here?

Mitsubishi: Build It!

Actually produce that sweet Concept RA 2-seat coupe, complete with 4-cylinder diesel power and a dual-clutch transmission, and we’ll believe you’ve got real ideas again.

Audi: Wow!

New-generation Audi A4: Wow. Everything – and we mean everything – on the Audi stand: WOW.

The R8 TDI concept is a hand grenade thrown in the room of everybody else who thinks they have the technology thing covered. Take the gorgeous R8 and install a V12 diesel that simultaneously guarantees thundering performance and surprising fuel economy, and you’ve got the eco-friendly performance statement that should be the envy of the industry. And Audi has the engineering muscle to translate that to the rest of its lineup, too. If only the sales can match the technical promise …

BMW: Just Don’t Get It

We just don’t “get” the new X6 crossover – and we’re not alone. Does it look cool? Yes. But the X6 is all compromise and no real new direction that we can discern. It’ll be more expensive and less useful than either a car or a crossover.

The new diesels coming later this year – the 335d and dumb-name X5 xDrive 35d – are the big story. But BMW’s being cagey about pricing: can they match the low $1,000 diesel premium chief rival Mercedes has laid down? We’re doubtful.

Meanwhile, the 1-Series has everyone talking. The prices aren’t low, and the car looks small. Performance will be a strong point, but it remains to be seen if BMW can work the entry-car magic that has eluded Audi, Volvo and others. And truth be told, I’m not entirely sold on the near-daintiness of the flame-surface sheetmetal treatment.

Mercedes: No Thank You, GLK

Vision GLK Concept: No thanks. Sheetmetal detailing gone wild and proportions that just don’t look proper. And the tight interior is hardly ready for ballroom dancing. The possibility of diesel power might be the only differentiator for this high-priced Honda CR-V.

Volkswagen: No Energy

There was absolutely no energy on the VW stand. All the vehicles were the same dull, expected shade of grey or silver – including the new Passat CC, which looks great (except from the rear), but big deal. VW doesn’t sell the regular Passat, so we don’t see much impact from a dearly-priced quasi-coupe version – regardless of it’s great profile.

VW should have been promoting the Tiguan compact crossover, but the single example was almost sheepishly displayed off to the side. Like Ford’s Verve, VW needed the Tiguan at least a year ago. And like everything else VW’s doing these days, it looks certain to be overpriced and overcontented when it finally hits the showroom.

AutoObserver Editor Michelle Krebs hasn’t missed an auto show in Detroit – or many other major cities, for that matter -- for the better part of 25 years. She has been the editor of Edmunds' AutoObserver since its inception a year ago, having previously written a column for Edmunds' Inside Line. Based in Detroit, she has covered the auto industry for nearly 30 years. She is a juror for the North American Car and Truck of the Year awards. Here are Michelle's observations on the show:

North American Car and Truck of the Year Awards

No second-consecutive sweep for General Motors, which looked like it could happen, but it was no surprise that the Chevrolet Malibu won North American Car of the Year. It was the Malibu or the CTS, which came in second. The margin by which Malibu trounced the Honda Accord, however, was rather stunning. Jurors allot 10 points to the three finalists. The final tally was: Malibu, 190; CTS, 165; and Accord, 95.

The truck award appeared up for grabs, and the Mazda CX-9, a darling with the press as many Mazda products are, walked away with the top award. It had appeared the shootout would be between the CX-9 and Enclave, but the Enclave actually came in third. The Chevrolet Tahoe Two-Mode Hybrid ranked second, for its innovative technology, despite its hefty price tag of $50,000.

Chrysler: The Story of the Year

Chrysler has long been famous for its flashy press conferences – Jeeps crashing through glass, minivans leaping across frog ponds, inside blizzards that left ankle-deep snow confetti on the floor. This year’s cattle drive on Detroit streets -– which was more like a stroll -- likely will be the last of these extravaganzas. Too expensive and too showy for a private-equity company counting every penny and trying to maintain a low profile. Plus, the proponent of such imaginative events, Jason Vines, resigned from head of communications at Chrysler just before the show, supposedly in a dispute with CEO Bob Nardelli, formerly of Home Depot.

And it just didn’t work.

In terms of products introduced, the Dodge Ram sports a freshened but still bold look that current Ram owners will like. Despite boasts about its much improved interior, it's not that much to brag about. The one I sat in had discoloration on the steering pod. Not a sign of quality.

A trio of concept cars are intriguing in terms of styling – can design mojo be resuscitated at Chrysler? But where’s the technology? The trio imitates the range-extending Chevrolet Volt, introduced last year, but Chrysler’s got nothing like that in the works. No cash to do so.

Chrysler was the source of much conversation at the show – by industry observers as well as insiders. Those most positive about the future of Chrysler are the top executives, many of them newcomers, who have been promised the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. We wonder if that rainbow will end in an empty field. Meantime, the working stiffs are worried about having a job and a paycheck tomorrow. A major disconnect.

Ford: Do we see hints of a turnaround?

Ford Verve is an impressive little machine. Explorer shifting to a car-based is a must. And F-150 promises to keep loyalists in the fold.The Flex could be a winner, though it is clearly one of those love it or hate its.

I'm becoming increasingly convinced that Ford management "gets it." However, the clock is ticking.

GM: Cadillac Rocks

Cadillac has struggled in the past year or so, though the Cadillac CTS has been a  hit from day one. Then Cadillac unveiled the V-Series version and surprised the press with the CTS coupe.

Having seen it a couple days before its surpise unveiling in GM’s design studios, it looked like the concept car winner of the show, I told designer John Manoogian. Sure enough, we ran into the seemingly shell-shocked Manoogian in the aisleways of the show carrying not one but two crystal trophies – one for the CTS-V and another for the CTS concept.

Just Wondering

Could the timing be worse for Hyundai's first V8 engine in the Genesis? GM cancels its V8 program and customers for its Malibu ordering four-cylinder engines instead of V6s. Ford limits its V8 usage, opting instead for its EcoBoost V6.

Is Land Rover treading lightly into Jeep's soft-ride territory? That's been a rockier ride than Chrysler thought and Chrysler's new marketing chief Jim Press hints it was mistakes as he says Jeep will return to its trail-rated heritage. Land Rover may want to take a detour before it even hits that road.

Has Honda made a wrong bet with the Pilot? It's ironic. The Pilot was the first of the crossovers to not seem so SUVish. Now it is still a crossover but with maybe too much SUV in it.

The BMW X6 is cuvaciously sexy but who will ride in the back seat? Double amputees.

A number of folks came by to check out the BMW 1-Series as it was on their shopping lists, but the steep price tag sent them running. Will the 1-Series be the first success in the small premium category?

Chinese automakers have been at the Detroit auto show for the past couple of years; this year there were five of them. None, as my colleague, Dale Buss noted, ready for prime time. So why are they here? A Chinese journalist explained to me it is not so much their intent to sell cars in the U.S., but to put on a show in Detroit for China's Central Committee back home. Press clippings about going international might get them more support.

Volkswagen: A snooze press conference and a so-what car. VW needs so much more to succeed in the U.S.

Will Fisker go the way of Tesla? Is the car for real? We're not convinced.

Noticeably Missing in Action

Nissan was a no-show in terms of a press conference, though it did show its Forum minivan concept and have PR folks and executives available.

Acura, it had been speculated, might show a hint of the future NSX; instead, the Honda luxury marque simply served coffee to the press.

Porsche, early in the season, made a highly-publicized departure from the Detroit show saying it was focusing its energies in markets where it sells a lot of cars, like Los Angeles.

Personal Favorites

The Mini Clubman, surprisingly, captured my fancy. The back end is ideal for loading the family Lab.

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