The press preview for the 2008 North American International Auto Show is finally over. TTAC’s Texas twosome– Sajeev Mehta and I– did our level best to catch the major reveals, grill some suits and get a feel for the temper of the times. On the plane back to the Lone Star State, I collected my thoughts on the show’s winners and losers. Were the carmakers fiddling while Rome burns, or preparing to rise Phoenix-like from the ashes ahead?
BIG WINNERS: GM and FoMoCo. Call it a home field advantage, but The General’s troops and The Blue Oval Boyz did the most to impress, launching the drop-dead gorgeous, thundering Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1 ; the luxe yet yeoman-like new Ford F-150 full-size pickup and the AMG-alike Cadillac CTS-V. Hail Mary passes they may be, but connect they did. (Yoda am I.)
BIG LOSERS: Chrysler and Toyota. Dodge launched their new Ram pickup amidst a gen-you-ine cattle drive outside the convention center. Indoors, the automaker’s displays were equally unfinished and disorganized. Toyota, the masters of organization, revealed nothing more exciting than a station-wagon-on-stilts. While the Camry-based Venza will sell in [non-cattle] droves, it oozed nothing in particular from every pore.
BEST SHOW TREND: diesel. Honda announced its plans to put a four-cylinder clean diesel engine into their [unintentionally] stealthy Acura passenger cars, as of next year. GM took the wraps off a new low-compression clean-burning 2.9-liter oil burner— a potential game changer in a Cadillac CTS coupe, no less. Mercedes, BMW and Audi all announced upmarket oil burners. And Chrysler promised to put a V6 Cummins turbo diesel into their half-ton Ram pickups, after 2009.
WORST SHOW TREND: alternative propulsion. The 2008 North American International Auto Show was the latest venue for the world automotive ecology Olympics. Unfortunately, all the athletes were pumped-up on PR puffery, and no events were actually run. Like the engine-less Cadillac Provoq “hydrogen” concept car, the hype surrounding the efficacy and practicality of a range of alternative propulsion powerplants has obscured the truth of reasonable expectations and anything like a practical timeframe.
CUTTING-EDGE WINNER: Former Aston designer Henrik Fisker’s mob made a major impact with their oh-so-sexy Karma all-electric sports car. Fisker execs say they’ll beat Tesla Motors to market with the first all-electric production sports car. Words are cheap, although neither car is. In theory.
CUTTING-EDGE LOSER: Tesla. Tesla’s no-show at the North American International Auto Show is a major miscalculation; with TTAC-fed doubts about the company’s viability, Tesla needed to fly the flag for their Lotus Elise-based all-electric Roadster. Either the silicon start-up couldn’t afford to lease the COBO real estate, or they didn’t want to face uncomfortable questions from an increasingly impatient press corps and public, or, sensibly enough, they’re conserving dwindling financial resources for more profitable endeavors. Anyway you look at this, they lose.
MEDIA WINNER: Autoblog, Jalopnik et al. The so-called new media continued their rise to prominence. Web slingers wrote stories, edited photos and transmitted the results for near-immediate posting on the Web. With Wi-fi, they didn’t even have to leave the show floor to do so. When The Old e-Gray Lady (the New York Times online) broke multiple photo embargos the night before the first press day, it was abundantly clear that print was dead.
MEDIA LOSER: buff books. The reports and photos from the North American International Auto Show hit the blogosphere within minutes. The buff books’ reports won’t show up in tin mailboxes for at least a month, more likely two. The old tech publications are clamoring to morph themselves into something more relevant by utilizing video and feeding their own web sites. One ink-stained Hungarian-looking scribe called “Chubba” trailed around behind me with a film crew. He pretended not to know who I was but followed me everywhere. Creepy.
SHORT TAKE WINNERS:
• Audi – Major buzz around the R8, and deservedly so.
• Ford Verve – IF only…
• Nissan – The GT-R is gonna be a HUGE hit
SHORT TAKE LOSERS:
• Chinese automakers – Relegated to the COBO basement, where they belong
• Buick – Their only inspiration came from China. How great is that?
• Mercury – Who? What? Where? No one. Nothing. Nowhere.
• Jaguar – Jag needs a homerun. The XF ain’t it.
• Pontiac – Why would anyone buy a G8 over a CTS?
Taken as a whole, the 2008 North American International Auto Show did little to suggest that major manufacturers have busted any moves to meet the twin challenges of recession and regulation. Those that are ready, are. Those that aren’t, aren’t. I read somewhere that Nero was a pretty good fiddle player. So is Detroit.
[For full TTAC Auto Show coverage, click here.]
Pretty much vaporware, except the CTS Coupe… love it, or hate it, to me it was the standout player.
Thanks for the coverage!
Pontiac – Why would anyone buy a G8 over a CTS?
The most expensive G8 with every option added is still cheaper than the least expensive CTS. The most expensive G8 has a 361hp V8 with a rear LSD. The least expensive CTS has a 263hp V6, which is barely more than the V6 in the least expensive G8.
I’ll turn it around: why would anyone buy the CTS over the G8?
G8 will lose (depreciate) at a much faster rate than the G8. In a lease scenario (12 or 24 months) the CTS could be a better choice since it will have a higher residual value which could translate into a lower monthly payment.
Ah, the hilarity of watching Jim Press introducing the 2009 Ram prior to the cattle drive. Just a couple of years ago, wasn’t he the one who introduced the Tundra concept? At least he’s laughing all the way to the bank.
SHORT TAKE LOSERS:
• Buick – Their only inspiration came from China. How great is that?
Given the difference between the US LaCrosse/CA Allure and Chinese LaCrosse on the same platform, one can only conclude Buick needs to be outsourced to GM’s China operations, STAT. The US LaCrosse’s awkward styling is a direct result of Lutz spiffing up the original design, so blame TTAC’s scapegoat emeritus.
GT-R: Huge hit, but buyers’ pocketbooks will be be even bigger losers. Let the gouging begin!
Sometimes I don`t know what to think of you guys.
” ink stained Hungarian looking scribe “. Man, this just isn’t right! Chubba is one of the sharpest car guys around and it is not over for him yet.
I am finally understanding why all the nasty remarks about Bob Lutz. I think it is just pure jealousy of his many exciting accomplishments [Viper, Solstice, 08 Cad CTS, Malibu, ZR1 etc].
frontline: “I am finally understanding why all the nasty remarks about Bob Lutz. I think it is just pure jealousy of his many exciting accomplishments [Viper, Solstice, 08 Cad CTS, Malibu, ZR1 etc].”
How strange it is that none of the cars you mention sell in any significant volume.
So the metalic green/silver blob (just under the ZR-1) is called the Toyota Venza. Huh. They could have waited a bit and named it the Toyota Pacifica, as that name will soon be available and they appear to be of the same ilk.
DT
Brian E :
January 17th, 2008 at 9:05 am
I’ll turn it around: why would anyone buy the CTS over the G8?
Your answer about the G8 is dead on, but the CTS makes sense for someone who wants more options and luxury than the G8 provides.
Pontiac = cheap thrills.
Cadillac = entry lux.
I’ve made this complaint elsewhere, but the G8 should have been a Catalina, IMO.
Only hot-rodders like myself will choose the G8 over a base CTS. Most people don’t think V8s are any better than modern V6s, something I’ve seen time and time again.
Plus, the CTS has a better interior, more style, better warranty and much, much more snob appeal. I’d love to be proven wrong, but the price points are too close between a Caddy and a Pontiac.
Caddy’s are always gonna win there.
Its gonna be the GTO all over again. (sad face)
No mention of the crotch-wetting Mazda Furai?
Although it’s not going into production, it sure stands out among a sea of bean-shaped crossovers. Looks gorgeous and I hope Mazda keeps pushing their engineering and design.
“Unintentionally stealthy Acura” – that made my day.
So is Buick’s communication manager, Dave Darovitz now giving all writer’s here catchy names? Frankie and Billy C. must be honored.
frontline:
I intended no disrespect to Mr. Chedda. My allusion to him is purely tongue-in-cheek [insert smiley face here]. I only bring him up because was there in the capacity of a TV personality not as a writer for an automotive journal. The long-haired haggis eater was doing the same thing [the Scotsman in me gibes with affectionately humorous intention]. The magazine format is dead in terms of being a viable news outlet for events like autoshows.
Stop blowing your horns and speaking of the demise of the print media. When TV was introduced 50 years ago, print media was doomed. Who on earth would read a magazine when you can get the news immediately. Wait a minute that is what you just said. No, the print media will still be here 50 years from now. It is hard to use my computer on an airplane and get streaming video or for that matter download a cutting edge editorial from TTAC.
As far as the Auto Show is concerned. It is interesting/disappointing that Jim Press, who “learned” so while working at Toyota, could forget so much so fast. Oh, well. Maybe it has to do with the owners of Chrysler not being from Japan. A differnt set of expectations.
Queensmet,
I think his point is that print media is no longer viable for events, not that it is no longer viable. You will likely be getting the internet on board aircraft soon, BTW, but it will not kill print either. The print media that survives will do so because it manages to find the strengths and advantages that it still has over the internet and tv.
Landcrusher is right. Print media was rather outdated during the show.
While Bill and I did the best we could (equipped to be self-publishing with a camera, laptop, note pad, cell phone, battery chargers) the sheer volume of Autobloggers and Jalopniks really drove the point home: new media ruled this event.
the drop-dead gorgeous, thundering Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1
Huh! Looks more like a Dodge Viper with every iteration.
Why would anyone buy a CTS or G8 over any other vehicle made by a car company NOT heading for the big B?
The G8 will probably sell with a big ass discount over the CTS. That will be enough for some. The rest of its buyers will be Pontiac fans.
Good work guys. I’m going to an autoshow soon too, but only because my friends are dragging me. I appreciate the endurance this must have taken.
Forgive me if I’m somewhat off-topic here but…
Mazda Furai? Very nicely done…Corvette ZR1? Very well executed, very capable. As exciting as these and other ‘new’ cars were at the show, the one car that had me coming back again and again, wishing I could start it up and take it home was 70 years old-the 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Spider body by Touring in the Louis Vuitton Classic display. No other car at the show even came close to capturing my imagination or exuded so much artistry in all of it’s design and engineering.
The Alfa was lovely.
Too bad they parked its stunning black body in a completely black display.
Stu Sidoti:
The security people told me that the Alfa is valued between $15 and $20 million. If you can afford that, you’re Mazarati rich.
The Alfa was clearly the most beautiful car at the show but as Sajeev indicated, the black on black display made the Alfa difficult to photograph. Here are my attempts: 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 Spider Touring
I agree with danms6. More coverge on the Furai. Saw a video of it the other day, and just listening to that enging is auditory bliss. I may not need porn any more after that video…
I felt really bad for Chrysler. The only concept cars with powertrains of the future they could show were imaginary. They have no hydrogen or hybrid capabilities of their own, which means the cupboard is truly bare. We are witnesses to the death of a once-great automaker.
Telsa’s no show might be to their credit. If the auto industry trade shows are anything like my industry’s (medical devices), its mostly pissing contest and chest beating. To paraphrase someone, 90% of all advertising is wasted. We just don’t know which 90%.
John
John:
Telsa’s no show might be to their credit. If the auto industry trade shows are anything like my industry’s (medical devices), its mostly pissing contest and chest beating. To paraphrase someone, 90% of all advertising is wasted. We just don’t know which 90%.
Nice thought. Only they’re going to the Montreal show.
I think that as long as people need to defecate, there will always be a home for the print media.
Thanks for the Alfa pics William. The 8c 2800 series are my favorite cars in life. A mysterious fellow named McClure Halley owned a car similar to that in NYC circa 1938 . He worked for a wealthy widow at the time and bought the car new from the Alfa factory. I really would like to find out more about him because dog trainers usually can’t afford an 8c Alfa.
To survive, the print media will need to show value beyond what’s available online. That means the typical coverage of auto shows is out, given that websites do a better job, and deliver the news a month earlier.
But that doesn’t mean the print media necessarily should roll up and die. They do three things rather well, at least sometimes:
1. car comparisons — most websites don’t have the pull or budget to bring together 3-8 competing vehicles for real testing, and frankly, this is worth a lot more to readers than the usual new car “review,” which in most places (not here) is mostly a re-worded press release.
2. editorials by respected writers who have something deep rather than new to say. (NOTE: this is by no means meant as a veiled criticism of TTAC)
3. finally, one thing I like is that one of the magazines (I forget which) will print a full page picture of a new vehicle, and then point out all the styling success and weaknesses. For people who view cars as (potential) artforms, this is very cool.
Could online sites do these things? Sure, and then you go back to jpc0067’s point, at least until tablet PC’s and web-enabled PDA’s become prevalent.
Anyhow, kudos to William on an insightful summary. Personally, I can’t wait to see the CTS coupe in the flesh.
William, just curious on your experiences with “Chubba.” I do not want to start trouble, but do you really think he was looking toward TTAC as guidance? After all, he has owned the COBO center show, especially with every television morning show crew following him for commentary…
Hmmm, the Corvette ZR-1 looks like an old 70’s Firebird/Camaro to me…
Nopanegain:
Mr. Chedda was at NAIAS as a TV reporter not as a print journalist, so I don’t think he was looking to me or TTAC for guidance. Sajeev and I roamed about with pen and pad in hand and laptops at the ready to blog and editorialize. Meanwhile, Chubba prepared for and taped video segments.
Chubba knows as well as we do that by the time his magazine goes to press with NAIAS coverage, the event will be ancient history. So his presence at the show was as a TV commentator, not a magazine editor.
Put another way, increasingly the public is looking toward Internet outlets for current content regarding automobiles. On the other hand, people reach for an auto rag to facilitate a good bowel movement.
Indeed, William. My C&D is perched atop the water tank…
I wonder how many camera crews were there from random morning shows following him, versus what camera crews were from Hachette… Next year take note of the credentials of the camera crews in tote…
Lmao at William and Nopanegain. Hilarious!
Great coverage here of the show.
“THE GOOD OLD DAYS” It was just a few years ago when , come the 7th of the month or a little later if the 7th came early in the week { mags were shipped only on Thursday} , I would go to the bookstore and buy C&D, R&T,Cycle and maybe MT. Autoweek came in the mail. I bought the other mags on the stand bcause sometimes the store got them before I did and I just couldn’t tolerate that. THOSE DAYS ARE OVER.
I’ll tell you what magazine I still buy is “Octane” from England. So far ,I can’t duplicate that online.
A bit of color for your ‘losers’ list:
The brain trust at Chrysler somehow forgot to plug in the power for the seat mechanisms in the majority of the display vehicles….meaning, unless it was a base unit with manual adjustments, opinion generators and potential customers were treated to seats stuck in whatever position the car jockeys left them in.
My colleagues and I were so dumbfounded that we eventually tracked down a Chrysler rep to politely ask them…”WTF?”
To which we were told: “I’ll be sure to put this in my report.”
Genius.
Another loser:
The Koreans.
The only thing worse than launching a horrible knockoff of every luxury car (Hyundai) had to be launching an ugly BOF V8 (Kia) when the rest of the industry is running away from the segment.
The sun has set on these guys, IMO.
More losers:
G8: It may drive like a dream and be subsidized to death…but it’s bland in person. A major disappointment.
Astra: It’s hard to imagine how they think customers will overlook the inscrutable radio/dash controls to drive a cramped, listless box. Another disappointment.
“Stop blowing your horns and speaking of the demise of the print media.”
The decline of print media is well documented if you follow business news. Various reports put the annual sales declines in the 5%-10% per year range for printed newspapers and magazines.
The situation is very similar to that of the photography business which has been in a painful transition from silver based (film) imaging to digital imagining. That shift has already put a number of once proud companies like Konica, Minolta, and others completely out of the business and has decimated employment and profits at once huge companies like Kodak.
Here you can see Kodak bldg 65 blown up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMyaKnh5_K8
Then there was building 9:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBadx7kZZXk
And yet another Kodak building coming down:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZq1ZlmZEtU
What really makes me sad is that the crowd cheers every one of these implosions.
This is what happens when an old way crumbles under the onslaught of the digital age. There is absolutely zero evidence print media will escape a similar fate. Luckily the offices of Car & Driver likely are easier to put to another useful purpose than were the highly specialized Kodak production facilities.
Sajeev Mehta :
While Bill and I did the best we could (equipped to be self-publishing with a camera, laptop, note pad, cell phone, battery chargers) the sheer volume of Autobloggers and Jalopniks really drove the point home: new media ruled this event.
Yes, and Fast Lane Daily delivered the Auto Show to me daily through a season’s pass on my Tivo. How cool is that?
jpc0067 :
I think that as long as people need to defecate, there will always be a home for the print media.
I used to think that too. Then I bought an ipod Touch. My car magazines are now pretty lonely sitting there as I surf digg, TTAC, e-mail and youtube with this amazing little device.
The auto show coverage has always been one of the least interesting parts of the print mags to me. As you point out, it’s 2 months too late and I was more interested in the strengths of the magazines: in depth reviews and comparisons.