Keeping an eye on the competition in Cobo today... guess which manufacturer's car this is from?
Judging by the response of some auto makers, you'd have thought this year's Detroit autoshow wouldn't be worth the effort. However, judging by twitter chatter, mainstream news coverage and the response of people on the ground, hell hasn't actually frozen over (its only Detroit's pavements) and those that ventured to the Cobo Hall today for the start of the North American International Auto Show 2009, were rewarded with some treats and surprises.
This show was always going to be about certain North American manufacturers proving to a skeptical American public they deserved bailout money, and for every other manufacturer, a chance to prove the auto industry wasn't actually on its knees, and could still deliver the vision, and kick-ass products that would make people open their wallets.
It started slowly, but over the day, momentum built... General Motors kicked things off unveiling a bland new Buick, and a Cadillac SRX Crossover that didn't set anyone's pants on fire. But the real big news was never going to be about these cars - and sure enough, the General used NAIAS as an opportunity to build on its good press with the Chevrolet Volt, and make the most of its E-flex, plug-in hybrid vehicle architecture. Renamed "Voltage" today, it sat under a new, rather crisp looking Cadillac Coupe callled the "Converj" (which tied for 'crap name of the day' with Kia's "Soulster").
Cadillac Converj, and a 'not the actual production car yet', Chevy Beat
But GM wasn't quite done at that, and made a slightly bizarre "reveal", which actually wasn't. It announced that the Chevy Beat, one of three baby cars shown a year or so ago, had received the public's blessing to be its new north American small car. It is to be put into production in 2011, known as the "Spark". However, we say it was bizarre, as GM showed the original Beat concept on their stand, and had just one photo of the new Spark on a big display screen. Although too early to judge fairly, in the photo, it looked less funky than the Beat, and a little clunky compared to its big competitor, the Fiesta, which Ford brings Stateside in 2010...
Speaking of Ford, they appeared to be having a rather good show. Not only was the new Taurus well received by mainstream auto press, but it made a big (some would say shock) announcement about electrification of its range - with four new cars - regular and plug-in hybrids, plus a pure battery electric vehicle, all due in the next three years. Interestingly, some of these will be based on the next Focus platform, which means they could be seen in both the US and Europe. Most interesting to us was how Ford played up its partnership with those outside of the automotive world, such as power and research companies, and how it says it is working with specific cities on the development of these vehicles. We hope to have more on this in the next couple of days and to interview some of those behind the announcement, so if you've any questions about Ford's announcements, please add them in the comments below.
Alan Mulally on stage, announcing Ford's big electric news
Alan Mulally, Ford's CEO, drove onto the stage in a -suitably coloured- green Fiesta to make this announcement, and we're intrigued by "The Fiesta Movement" Ford has launched in relation to the model, which apparently sees 100 Fiestas put into the hands of people with 'strong' web presence, before they're launched in the US. Throwing the green bathwater out with the eco baby on the Ford stand though, was the new Shelby 500 Mustang. It gets the prize for "Most brooding-looking vehicle of the day":
You'd get out of its way if you saw it in your mirrors, wouldn't you?
Completing the trio of domestic manufacturers was Chrysler, who once again showed that EV, which looks rather like a Lotus Europa covered by a "wafer-thin mint" sized Dodge badge and some EV stickers, which it promises will be on sale by 2012. If I were a betting man, I'd probably put money on Lotus themselves turning out pure EVs before Chrysler do... but most people seemed to think that Chrysler might have been better off concentrating on making their production cars look a little more like its surprising, and rather attractive-looking 200C EV concept.
Chrysler contrasts - third outing for Dodge EV concept (nee. Lotus Europa); rather good looking 200C
The Germans had still turned up in Detroit in their droves, with all of the major manufacturers except Porsche in attendance and unveiling concepts today. BMW had obviously heard there was something on the show agenda about the greening of automobiles, but appeared not to have realised no one's into SUV crossovers anymore, so showed an X6 Active Hybrid. If you haven't seen an X6 on the road yet, you'll know about it when you do, as the photo below from Mark shows. You don't truly appreciate how big it is until you see it next to something else (as Mark says, "don't believe the scale is a matter of perspective in this pic")...
Still, BMW took the opportunity to be serious and launch its new Z4 - a replacement for the car which got the world all a-fluster about Chris Bangle and 'Flame surfacing'. While that surface language is now officially dead, the new one still isn't without its creases and kinks. It appears to be, like many modern cars, somewhat 'colour sensitive' - showing off much better in the dark blue, than champagne.
Put me down for a blue one please...
It's always amusing to watch how announcements are reported. While the world seemed to be getting excited over the idea of Toyota 'beating the Volt to market' - with the Japanese company's announcement they'd lease 500 plug-in hybrids in 2009, everyone seemed to have forgotten that, using the same matrix, BMW has beaten them both to it with its Mini E - on show again here. Surely, anyone who's watched the film "Who killed the electric car" would hesitate to classify a car that's simply part of a manufacturer test fleet (the Toyota plug-in), and a car anyone can buy (the Volt) in the same arena?
A reminder from BMW Mini, of what the future car seems likely to be powered by...
Indeed, green poster-child Toyota is in danger of being eclipsed by a bunch of manufacturers before long. A new Prius is launched tomorrow, but this time it won't have the market to itself, with the likes of Honda's Insight on the way. We were disappointed too, that Toyota's EV concept, the FT-EV, had turned the clever, funky-looking iQ into a bit of a micro-van lookalike. I'm interested in really starting to ask serious questions about what electric cars, and advanced hybrids should look like. And it's disappointing to think they might all be Prius-a-like...
Toyota FT-EV concept, is an iQ in disguise
A car that was about as aesthetically far removed from the Prius as it's possible to get, but which still played up its green credentials, was the VW Bluesport roadster. Robb felt this looked a little predictable, even stale - something Darryl Siry attributed to TT-similarities. But then it appeared that VW's stand girls might have helped Robb change his mind... ! Slightly odd orange hood apart, this was VW proving that it could do good, clean fun - and that it was still top of the tree when it came to interiors and detailing.
VW Bluesport, some models, and detailing
Still, we could just be hallucinating about this VW due to the strength of the lighting rig the Germans had employed on their show stand. This brought about 'tweet of the day' from @commutr, who summed up the situation by saying "Maserati, Aston Martin and Tesla have saved money on lighting by being next to VW. The sun is less bright. :)"
VW Stand: "The sun is less bright"...
My car of the day though, was the final unveil, the Volvo S60 concept. We haven't had time to upload the photos yet, and it's really the interior you need to see... but if Volvo's are going to look this sexy in the future, then I want one... Check out pictures like this and this to see what I mean.
"If Volvo's are going to look this sexy, then I want one"
Stay tuned for continued coverage - and some interviews and video tomorrow.
Full photoset from today here.
Posted by Robb Hunter on the show floor in Detroit, and Joseph Simpson watching on the web in London. You can follow our ongoing coverage of the show and thoughts on twitter - @potatowedge, @JoeSimpson, @CharmerMark.
All Photos by Robb Hunter - Potatowedge on Flickr
Disclosure: Ford is sponsoring the Movement Design Bureau's design research work in 2009.
All material, including photographs, is licensed as Creative Commons Share Alike 3.0. Please feel free to copy, distribute and adapt the material within the terms of this license.
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