So I just got back from a day at the Detriot Auto Show. As a person who enjoys autos and the auto industry a bit more than the average joe, I was looking forward to experiencing the "show" of shows in Detroit. I have gone to the NYC show and the Miami Auto Show a number of years...but never made it to Detriot.

Overall, I have to say that the NYC show was more impressive and larger. (2-Levels...with cars on one level and trucks/vans/etc. on the lower level) It felt about the same size as the Miami show I go to almost every year.

My impressions from the floor...

Companies that were not generating excitement...

GM - Bankruptcy in 2 years.
Ford - A year or two behind.
Suburu
Mitsubishi
VW

And I even have to say that the Acura booth lacked any excitment. Acura really needs to have an NSX concept to get some attention. They had one of every model on display...but not much traffic or excitement for the brand. I know Acura had a good year but they need to get the pipeline open with some exiciting new models soon. Lexus and Infiniti had much more interest... (2007 G35 Coupe concept....Lexus LS460 were both big eye catchers).

I never considered myself a Jaguar person...but I fell in love with their new XK model. It come in a coupe and a covertible and both are beautiful.

The Jeep booth was visually fantastic. They always do some great displays and attention getting at these shows. I'm not a Jeep person but I think they do a great job in understanding their brand and communicating that image in their booth. A digital water fall that spelled out words and shapes was so cool. I am sure most of you saw or heard about their stunt of driving the Jeep out through a window in the Cobo center earler last week during the press week.

I think the American makers are trying to revive their glory days...with concepts of the "Challenger"...trying to bring back Baby Boomers to there early days. The Thunderbird seems to be a huge flop...why do they keep going down this road.

The Pontiac Solstice looks great for 20K and was one of the more exciting items on the GM area. However...I wish they would have spend another 2-3K and offered an automatic top. I would shell out 25K just to have this as a fun car to go around town in......but in Florida the nearest downpour can be just a block away.

I got a good look at the 2007 Camry. They have added some spice to the exterior....but when you get inside you get bored pretty quick. I am sure they will sell tons of them....but I do think the efforts of the Hundai Sonata and Nissan Altima will not be killed by this new model.

There are some really beautiful small cars coming out this year. It's a good time to be a college kid looking to buy their first new car. The Honda Civic SI is a beautiful machine...and the new Nissan Sentra is really moving up the value chain quite a bit. All of Nissans cars now look like a family of vehicles...from the Murano to the Sentra....from the Maxima to the Altima...I have been a Nissan owner for decades and I must say that I think their current line up is one of the best looking at all price levels.

Well....after 3-4 hours...thats what I walked away with (of course I have tons of brochures as well to enjoy). Now it's time to save up for that Jaguar XK!

 

Subaru, Mitsubishi, and VW were snoozer exhibits, definitely.

Honda-Acura does understated exhibits @ NAIAS compared to everyone else, even Nissan and Toyota. That's fine, the lights and noise are obnoxious after a while.

The new Jaguar XK is impressive, although the back end is more appealing than the front.

Glad you enjoyed the visit. No comments about the Camaro concept?

 

The Acura exibit is the worst in the show IMO. One of each car? WTF.

They've had the same wheel display for the last 3 years now.

Or maybe it was just because there was absolutely nobody there was I was going through. Needs big improvemnt IMO.

And 3-4 hours? We spend 9 and didn't think we had enough time.

 

Subie, Mitsu were boring displays at the LA auto show.

We dont all the cool stuff like waterfalls, but Jeep was a good display. Acura was Acura.

Mini was kinda boring, too with only 2 models and no concepts.

LA always LACKS on the cool concepts.

 

Ummmm.............

 

Waterfalls are for hippies, and for disguising the fact that your product appeals to he-man types.

But it's nice to cool off after running around the show. Cadillac's lounge @ NAIAS had hard seats and blaring music. Godawful!

 

Of note though. Caddy had several ladies standing around just waiting for you to ask questions. We even had one poor lady demonstrate the SRX's so called "3rd row". Seeing her with her knees in her face was quite funny.

There was noone to be found around Honda, Acura, Infiniti and Nissan booths. Toyota, Lexus wasn't too bad.

 

Uhhh ... check out a few posts below:

https://acurazine.com/forums/car-talk-5/pics-detroit-autoshow-56k-%3D-death-329593/

----

Dom -- 9 hours?! Heck, 3-4 hours is plenty. Mind you, I totally skipped Chrysler/Jeep, glanced through GM and their cars, walked through Ford (but stopped at Madza and Volvo) and skimmed through Acura.

I agree -- Acura was a terrible pavillion. For an upscale make, they had no real things to look at. The SEMA TSX was where the NSX used to be but c'mon ... nothing for people to gawk at. RDX was right up front, across from the Honda Fit.

It's sad to think Hyundai/Kia got more people walking through it than Acura (at least, on the Wednesday that I went).

 

Hmmm...and the Toyota FJ isn't? Or the 350Z? What world do you live in? So American automakers decide to stop making jellybean look a like cars. Good for them. You don't like it? To f'ing bad.

 

Based on the domestic performance of GM and Ford, I don't think I'm alone. I love the classic American cars....and I think having a "flashback" car once in a while in the line-up is quite fun and refreshing. And truthfully, it's not the Thunderbird that forced Ford to lay off 30,000 US based employees and cut 15 production plants today....it was years of making other mistakes like the 500 and Fusion.

 

Well, I don't think the Fusion is a mistake...its been widely well reviewed. Its no Mondeo like they get in Europe. But a mistake

The thunderbird was a flop, a big one. OK.

The PT cruiser is certainly no flop. The Chevy HHR (same designer as the PT btw) is no flop. The Mustang, the Magnum, the 300C, the Charger. They are not flops.

Just because one retro car was a turd, doesnt mean they are all flops.

 

2 differences between the domestic "retro" cars and other automakers' "retro" cars:

1) the domestics' motive for designing retro cars is to help bring them back to success. Instead of focusing on stellar bread and butter products to boost their image, they design retro cars hoping to boost their image.

For other automakers, their bread-and-butter lineup boost their image and the retro cars add to that. They aren't so dependent on retro cars to boost image.


2) Domestic retro cars are DEPENDANT on their "history" to sell. Most of them (excluding the charger, magnum, 300) are just mediocre cars that wouldn't sell well otherwise...take the thunderbird, even WITH history, its sales suck.

The foreign "retro" cars sell well because first and foremost they are very well designed cars. they don't need to be retro to be popular...the retro just adds to their popularity.

 

Retro retro All that matters is are they making good cars. And let's face it, the Japanese don't have many classic designs they can bring back. Can you imagine a retro version of this?