The 2008 North American International Auto Show opened in Detroit in January to the spotlight of national politics, the microscope of ecological worry and the pall of a gloomy Michigan economy.
Because Michigan primary organizers successfully lobbied to have the campaign coincide with the annual show, Republican presidential candidates were forced to address some of the economic issues affecting the U.S. auto industry.
Although this year’s show featured more eco-friendly concept vehicles and displays, many vehicles were drawing board fantasies and years away from being produced. But ecological concerns were popular enough to compel Cadillac to introduce the Provoq, a prototype for an emissions-free vehicle, while many others touted carbon-reducing products in educational and informational displays.
Still, raw power and beautiful styling were powerful lures to the media and visitors. It’s one thing to care about the Earth but not at the expense of what’s parked in the driveway.
After Detroit, cars from the auto show will travel to Cleveland’s I-X Center from Saturday, February 23 to Sunday, March 2. Times and days for the Cleveland Auto Show are 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., Sunday and noon to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday.
Below are some highlights from the 2008 Detroit show.
CLICK HERE for our photo galleries of the show!
Show’s ‘Car of the Year’ goes to Chevy Malibu
The Chevrolet Malibu is the 2008 North American Car of the Year, and the Mazda CX-9 is the 2008 North American Truck of the Year.
The winners were announced in mid-January at a news conference at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit’s Cobo Center. The awards are unique because, instead of being given by a single media outlet, the winners this year were chosen by 45 automotive journalists who represent newspapers, magazines, television, radio and Web sites in Canada and the United States.
The awards are designed to recognize the most outstanding new vehicles of the year based on factors including innovation, design, safety, handling, driver satisfaction and value for the dollar. Although dozens of new 2008 vehicles were eligible, the jurors whittled the field down to 15 cars and 13 trucks on which they voted in December.
The three car and three truck finalists were revealed in December. Last year the North American Car of the Year was the Saturn Aura while the North American Truck of the Year was the Chevrolet Silverado.
AutoWeek: Corvette ZR1 deserves ‘Best in Show’
The AutoWeek editorial staff announced its Editors’ Choice Award winners for the 2008 North American International Auto Show during the annual AutoWeek Design Forum, held in conjunction with the auto show.
For more than a decade, the editors of the weekly automotive-enthusiast magazine have scoured show floors in Detroit, Geneva, Paris, Frankfurt and Tokyo, selecting winners in four categories: “Best in Show,” “Best Concept,” “Most Significant” and “Most Fun.”
The 2008 AutoWeek Editors’ Choice Award winners for the Best of Detroit are:
Best in Show: Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 – “We award Best in Show to the vehicle that we feel will be best remembered five years down the road. Simply put, the Corvette ZR1 is the baddest of the bad. The 620-horsepower machine with carbon-fiber body rightfully takes its place as Best in Show,” said AutoWeek Editor and Associate Publisher Dutch Mandel.
Best Concept: Cadillac CTS Coupe – “The vehicle named Best Concept is one we’re most hopeful to see built. Almost unanimously, the AutoWeek editorial staff selected the CTS Coupe as most deserving of the award. It is the next iteration of the dramatic styling Cadillac has brought to the marketplace.”
Most Significant: Ford F-150 - “Because Ford brought so many significant vehicles to this year’s show, the decision of what vehicle to award Most Significant was a tough one. From the Explorer America, a unibody-constructed, friendlier sport/utility vehicle, to the Verve, the best-looking small car Ford has built for America in generations, the F-150 is Most Significant for what it means not only to the company but to the American ethic. The F-150 is Ford tough – and so was this decision among quite an impressive lineup of products Ford has on display.”
Most Fun: Audi R8 TDI Concept - “Who couldn’t see themselves with a 6.0-liter V12-powered sex-mobile like this R8 supercar? With turbodiesel power and torque that could move not only houses but emotions, it’s AutoWeek’s choice as Most Fun.”
Verve concept indicates new small car from Ford
Ford Motor Co. unveiled the Verve, a concept vehicle that indicates the type of small car the American automaker will introduce in North America in the future.
Ford is building on decades of small car leadership in Europe as it develops new small cars for North America to appeal to customers who value technology, design and fuel efficiency.
Both four- and three-door Verve body styles were unveiled at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, as curtain-raisers to a new global family of small cars set to debut in Europe and Asia beginning later this year and in North America in 2010. The four-door is the basis for the production vehicle that will be sold in North America. The European three- door is being shown to test market reaction to the body style – as a possible additional small car for the North American market.
The Verve concept has been developed with Ford’s new global product development strategy that better leverages the company’s global strengths. Globally, Ford is building on its European small-car expertise to stake a bigger claim in this critically important segment. Ford’s small car lineup in Europe includes such top-sellers as the Ford Focus, Fiesta and Ka.
“We’re looking at every aspect of what’s defined Ford as a small-car leader in Europe and working to build on this expertise in driving dynamics and design across a global family of Ford cars that are as exciting to drive as they are to look at,” said Derrick Kuzak, Ford’s group vice president, Global Product Development.
“The Verve concept family provides a vision for a new world standard for quality, design and comfort in the small car segment,” Kuzak added. “These concepts demonstrate how leveraging our global strengths can yield attractive benefits for our customers in markets around the world.”
Momentum in small-car sales is outpacing overall industry growth worldwide. Globally, small car sales have grown from 23 million units in 2002 to an estimated 38 million in 2012. That’s nearly 45 percent of the total expected 85-million unit industry, a level never before achieved. In the U.S., sales of small cars likely will grow by 800,000, or 25 percent – to a record 3.4 million units by 2012.
In fact, small cars and crossovers are the only vehicles with projected near-term growth in the U.S.
Driving the growth in the U.S. market is a group of young people aged 13 to 28 years -- dubbed “Millennials.” Today, this group stands 1.7 billion strong worldwide and will represent 28 percent of the total U.S. population by 2010.
As a group, Millennials embrace eco-friendliness, stay in constant touch using modern technology and demand best-in-class products from around the world. This group will grow from representing 19 percent of the driving public in 2004 to amassing 28 percent in 2010.
Every day, 11,000 Millennials in the U.S. come of driving age. When it’s time to buy their first car, nearly half of this group shops the small-car segment.
“Millennials will be the defining group of customers in the future, driving all types of consumer trends,” said Jim Farley, Ford’s group vice president, Marketing and Communications. “Ford’s European-based cars are a great fit for this generation of drivers, who have grown up with the Internet and mobile phones as necessities, not luxuries – believing that bigger isn’t necessarily better, precision is everything and technology rules.”
The Verve concept is built off of a design architecture flexible enough to yield three distinctive vehicles that are each recognizably Ford. The flexible design architecture also allows Ford to adapt quickly to rapidly changing customer tastes and will help the company enter new markets utilizing regionally tailored products off of a common platform.
“We’re known in Europe for uniquely executed small cars, and this is the perfect time to bring this expertise to buyers in North America,” Kuzak said.
Cadillac CTS sweeps EyeOn Design Awards
Two Cadillac CTS models – the 2009 Cadillac CTS-V and the CTS Concept Coupe – swept the production and concept car categories at the 2008 EyesOn Design Awards at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS), as the new BMW X6 and the Chrysler ecoVoyager took respective production and concept truck honors.
The only automotive design awards selected and judged by top automotive design experts from around the world, the EyesOn Design Awards for Design Excellence was the final event of the Press Preview Days portion of the 2008 NAIAS. This year’s panel of 20 automotive design experts that selected the winners was led by a trio of Chief Judges that included Chris Bangle, BMW Group design chief, Jack Telnack, vice president of Global Design, Ford Motor Co. (retired) and Nate Young, of the Art Center College of Design.
The judges spent the morning hours of the NAIAS show floor, carefully reviewing the complete list of nearly 50 production and concept vehicles that were unveiled in the last three days at the Detroit Show. The winners were announced in the final press conference of the 2008 Detroit Show in mid-January, which featured master of ceremonies John McElroy, the host of the nationally televised show Autoline Detroit. Event sponsor guests Annie Assensio of Dassault Systemes and David Amati of the 2008 SAE World Congress presented each of the four winners with unique crystal awards that have been a trademark of EyesOn Design events for nearly 20 years.
“The only thing better than winning one of these awards is winning two,” said Eric Clough, director of design of Cadillac Interiors, who joined his colleague, John Manoogian II, Cadillac studio director of Exterior Design, in accepting both Cadillac CTS awards. In addition to sweeping the car category this year, the Cadillac CTS also was awarded the 2007 EyesOn Design Best Concept Implementation Award.
The EyesOn Design Award for the BMW X6, which the manufacturer refers to as a Sports Activity Coupe, accepted by Anders Warming, Exterior Design Director of BMW Cars, on behalf of the entire BMW Design Team.
“I would call it automotive royalty right here in front of us,” Warming said of the illustrious panel of automotive design professionals that made up the 2008 EyesOn Design panel of judges. “This is truly a significant honor.”
His respect for the EyesOn Design panel was shared by the designers that accepted the award for the unique Chrysler ecoVoyager.
“Last year I had the opportunity to walk the floor with the judges last year for EyesOn Design, so I know what it takes to win one of these awards,” said Greg Howell who jointly accepted the concept truck award with his DaimlerChrysler design colleague Tyonek Stump.
Land Rover’s LRX concept offers smaller vehicle
Land Rover unveiled a vision of its future at the North American International Auto Show with the world debut of the LRX concept. As the company prepares to mark its 60th anniversary in 2008, the three-door LRX, with its more compact size, lighter weight and sustainability-focused technologies, seeks to address the needs of a changing world.
“The LRX concept delivers the powerful message that we are as serious about sustainability as we are confident about the continuing relevance and desirability of our vehicles,” said Phil Popham, Land Rover’s managing director. “The LRX is in every respect a Land Rover, but it’s a very different Land Rover.
The LRX is described as a cross-coupe. Though smaller than the LR2, the LRX is conceived as a premium car, designed to appeal to new customers in the luxury and executive sector -- those who want many of the benefits of a 4x4 and the visual presence of a larger vehicle, but in a more compact package.
Land Rover North America is part of Ford Motor Company’s Premier Automotive Group with headquarters in Irvine, Calif. Land Rover established operations in the U.S. in 1986, and now imports and distributes Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, LR3 and LR2 vehicles manufactured by Land Rover in Solihull and Halewood, England. Land Rover’s worldwide operations are wholly owned by Ford Motor Co., Dearborn, Mich.
Toyota debuts crossover sedan at Detroit show
Toyota staged the world premiere of its all-new 2009 Toyota Venza crossover sedan at a press conference during the 2008 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Venza is a blend between a sedan and sport utility vehicle. The vehicle was designed and engineered in the United States and will be assembled at Toyota’s manufacturing plant in Georgetown, Ky.
Editor’s note: Vehicles from the North American International Auto Show can be seen in Cleveland later this month. To see all of the photos we took and several more, CLICK HERE!
©2008 Metro Monthly - Youngstown, Ohio - All rights reserved.
Photos ©2008 Ron Flaviano
