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Thursday, January 15, 2004


Detroit auto show seems humdrum, despite unveiling of 50 vehicles


By Paul Lienert / Autos Insider


Considering how upbeat much of the auto industry seems and how many new models are due to hit U.S. dealerships in the next twelve months, the 2004 Detroit auto show -- the first major international event of the season -- was surprisingly flat.

Known formally as the North American International Auto Show, this year's exhibition seemed to lack the usual buzz that has accompanied previous Detroit shows, despite the fact that more than fifty new production and concept vehicles were unveiled at Cobo Center.

As usual, the hometown contingent spearheaded the new-model premieres -- but it didn't have an awful lot of significant new hardware to crow about.

General Motors Corp. pulled the wraps off five new vehicles, following a similar performance a week earlier at the Los Angeles show.

In Detroit, GM focused on the sixth-generation 2005 Chevrolet Corvette -- which struck disappointed 'Vette loyalists as little more than a lukewarm face-lift with a cheap-looking interior -- as well as the sexy new 2006 Pontiac Solstice and its clever Kappa platform stablemates, the Chevrolet Nomad and Saturn Curve.

Curiously, there was no new Cadillac, a puzzling development considering the brand's overwhelming presence a year ago in Detroit when the stunning Sixteen concept took the media by storm.

Ford Motor Co. proclaimed 2004 the "year of the car", finally unveiling its long-touted Five Hundred mid-size sedan -- a puzzling and ultimately disappointing knockoff of a five-

year-old Volkswagen Passat -- and the Freestyle wagon, which appears to be Dearborn's home-

grown version of the original Volvo Cross Country.

Ford, which remains hopelessly mired in the past, continued this strain of "retrofuturism" with the debut of its latest super car, the Shelby Cobra, and a concept mini sport-ute that resurrected the old Bronco nameplate.

All told, Ford launched 10 new production and concept vehicles at the show, not counting new arrivals from its European subsidiaries.

With the possible exception of the Shelby and the next-generation Lincoln Aviator -- a car-based Lexus RX330 fighter that's at least five years too late -- none of the Ford vehicles ignited much enthusiasm among the press.

The German-owned Chrysler Group, part of the DaimlerChrysler AG family, did its best to steal a march on the Big Two with a top-secret super car of its own, the Chrysler ME Four-Twelve.

The quad-turbo twelve-cylinder coupe didn't shock onlookers as much as the wacky Tomahawk super-bike did at last year's show, and its ungainly and overwrought exterior design lacked grace and elegance.

Chrysler's other new concepts, the Dodge Sling Shot and Jeep Rescue, seemed, if not irrelevant, at least far removed from production.

All told, the group rolled out ten new production and concept vehicles, the most tasteful of which was the Crossfire roadster.

The European brands had little more than a low-key presence at the show, the highlights being limited to the BMW 6-series convertible, twelve-cylinder Audi A8 L 6.0 Quattro, and production-ready Mercedes-Benz Vision GST.

Volkswagen's California studio clearly had a fun time whipping up the Concept T, its take on the dune buggy of the 21st century. Ferrari already had released photos of its new 612 Scaglietti coupe, so the official Detroit unveiling was almost anticlimactic.

Among the Asians, Hyundai Motor Co. -- which last year unveiled the singularly hideous OLV concept -- astonished show-goers with the voluptuous HCD-8 concept coupe, perhaps one of the loveliest vehicles at the show and a darn sight more interesting than the new Corvette.

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. showed sensational concept versions of two future production models, including the next-generation Eclipse and a highly stylized derivative of the next-generation Dodge Dakota, which should reach Mitsubishi showrooms as an '06 model.

Honda Motor Co.'s first-ever pickup, a Pilot-based sport-

utility truck unimaginatively christened the SUT Concept, lacked fizz or flavor, particularly when viewed alongside Toyota's huge FTX, a striking preview of the next-generation Tundra full-size pickup due in 2006.

Toyota Motor Co.p.'s Scion subbrand launched its third model, the sporty tC coupe, while its upscale Lexus brand showed off the next-generation GS sedan -- basically a production-ready version of the LF-S concept from Tokyo.

Once again, a resurgent Nissan Motor Co. came into Detroit with guns blazing.

Infiniti popped the full-size QX56, which hopes to take on the Lincoln Navigator and the Cadillac Escalade, while the Nissan brand showed upcoming redesigns of the midsize Frontier pickup and Pathfinder SUV. All three vehicles borrow freely from the platform that underpins the big Titan pickup.

One of the more intriguing concepts was Nissan's Actic compact crossover, aimed at twenty-something families and known in development as Decabus.

It was not the prettiest vehicle at the show but certainly was among the most distinctive -- yet more proof of Shiro Nakamura's growing stature, confidence, and maturity as one of the world's top designers.

Originally posted by Darth Xed
As the internet grows, there are going ot be fewer surprises... Cars like the new Corvette are not going to actually 'debut' totally at the show anymore... it's all but impossible.


Even still, the Chrysler supercar and Shelby Cobra were two pretty big surprises, I'd say.

Originally posted by Z28x
Where are the Pontiac, GMC, Buick, and Caddy Concepts?? I was also hoping to see some Sema cars there when I went.

Originally posted by formula79
You can say that again!

Originally posted by Red Planet
welll...there was the Kappa platform stuff...but to answer your question, the money right now is going into vehicles that you will be able to go out and buy......you can't buy concept cars.....while I'm not at liberty to give you a rundown of all the cars that GM, at least, will be bringing out in the next three years, suffice it to say that the number is sizable.......and with the costs to develop a new vehicle at the billion mark, hey......not as many concepts.

There ARE concepts being developed every day.....just not being shown........

In Detroit, GM focused on the sixth-generation 2005 Chevrolet Corvette -- which struck disappointed 'Vette loyalists as little more than a lukewarm face-lift with a cheap-looking interior