Like clockwork, Detroit annually kicks off the global touring circus that is motor-show season. This international troupe will travel to Geneva in March, then New York, Frankfurt, Tokyo and Los Angeles. In Canada, the big events are in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. However, not all shows are created equal.
Coming off another year of record new-vehicle sales, the lights were bright in Detroit. Expectations ran high as the doors opened on the 2017 North American International Auto Show. Many exciting new cars were announced, but most weren’t at the show. What happened?
The Three stand-out cars from the show
The Big Three
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, on its home turf, didn’t even bother to hold a news conference. It had no news. The company showed a futuristic minivan concept, the Portal, a week earlier in Las Vegas at CES, formerly the Consumer Electronics Show. Fully electric and self-driving, it won’t be in showrooms any time soon.
For the most part, the American companies went back to doing what they do best: trucks and SUVs.
General Motors launched a pair of SUVs. The all-new 2018 GMC Terrain is pitched as a more luxurious version of the new Chevrolet Equinox, which was unveiled last year. The Terrain loses the V-6 engine option for 2018, but will be available with three different turbocharged four-cylinders: two gas and one diesel.
The other new SUV from GM is the three-row Chevrolet Traverse. The old model has been on the market for nearly nine years and is overdue for replacement. For those who simply refuse to buy a minivan, this is a good alternative, with second-row seats that can slide forward and what Chevy claims is best-in-class third-row legroom.
Ford spruced up its F-150 with new and updated engines, as well as a whole lot more shiny chrome. But the big news is that, finally, there’s a turbo-diesel engine option. The company didn’t release specs for the 3.0-litre Power Stroke diesel, but it could be a version of the engine Ford makes for the Range Rover, which is good for 440 lb-ft of torque.
The big-displacement V-6 and V-8 engines have nearly all been replaced by downsized, turbocharged engines in the quest to reduce fuel consumption. Ford updated the F-150’s 2.7-litre EcoBoost motor and paired it with a 10-speed transmission. A dinky 1.6-litre engine in GMC’s Terrain would’ve been laughed out of showrooms not that long ago – but that little turbo-diesel makes 240 lb-ft of torque, which is no laughing matter.
New cars
Kia launched its most ambitious car, the Stinger. The fastback sedan is pitched as a cheaper alternative to German sports sedans, and has the performance to back it up. It’s based on a new rear- and all-wheel-drive chassis, honed by a top engineer poached from BMW’s M Division. Styling was done under the guidance of Kia’s design chief, Peter Schreyer, who came from Audi. The base Stinger has a 255-horsepower four-cylinder, while the Stinger GT gets a 365-horsepower twin-turbo V-6 and will do 0-100 km/h in 5.1 seconds – exactly the same as a BMW 340i.
The Toyota Camry is all-new for 2018. If that news doesn’t get your heart rate up, well, we don’t blame you. But Toyota is trying to change that. The styling is sharper, with the option of a blacked-out roof, and it is lower and wider with a significantly longer wheelbase than the outgoing model. The engines are all-new, too, with non-turbo 2.5-litre and 3.6-litre options, as well as a hybrid.
Toyota said the new Camry is “assembled in America, by Americans, for Americans.” You have to imagine that comment was directed at president-elect Donald Trump, who, days before the show, tweeted, “Toyota Motor said will build a new plant in Baja, Mexico, to build Corolla cars for U.S. NO WAY! Build plant in U.S. or pay big border tax.”
Minivans
Honda is trying to keep the minivan relevant. Chrysler, with its Pacifica (starting at $38,790), hopes parents want luxury amenities. Honda, with the all-new Odyssey, is betting parents just want help to care for their children. The new 2018 minivan has an intercom that lets parents talk through the speakers – rather than shout back to the third row – to tell kids to stop throwing Cheerios. There’s also a rear-facing camera so parents in the front can keep an eye on kids in the back.
Volkswagen also had a kind of minivan on display, but not one you’ll be able to buy any time soon. The I.D. Buzz is the latest in a long line of concept vehicles meant to tap into nostalgia for the iconic 1960s VW bus. The cute all-electric Buzz concept also worked to get people to forget about the diesel-emissions-cheating scandal. VW’s first all-electric car is scheduled to arrive in 2020.
Light on luxury
There wasn’t much news from the German Big Three. Audi made the biggest waves with its angry-looking Q8 concept. When it goes into production, likely in 2018, it will be the brand’s flagship SUV. With Bentley, Rolls-Royce, Lamborghini, Maserati and Alfa Romeo all jumping into the luxury SUV game – not to mention a growing number of ’utes from BMW and Mercedes-Benz – Audi sees opportunity to push its SUVs up-market.
Mercedes refreshed its entry-level GLA mini-SUV, and introduced an all-new E-Class Coupe as well as updates to the AMG GT lineup.
Lexus unveiled its LS flagship, with shades of Porsche Panamera styling.
Infiniti took the prize for the most-interesting new technology, with a variable compression-ratio engine which can shift the entire stroke of the piston up or down in the cylinder. Clever, but also useful. Infiniti claims this makes turbocharged engines more powerful and fuel-efficient throughout the rev range. We’ll find out if it works when the first variable compression-ratio engine arrives in the QX50, which was previewed by a thinly disguised QX50 Concept.
Best for last
Consensus in the press room was that the show was lacklustre. Nothing stole the spotlight.
That’s because most of the exciting new cars announced – cars that’ll get gearheads talking on Twitter – weren’t actually at the show. Ford announced the Ranger and Bronco will return, but had nothing to show. Mercedes laid out its plan for a 1,000-horsepower supercar to celebrate its Formula One success. Ford also promised hybrid versions of the F-150 and Mustang, but wouldn’t say anything about them.
The auto-show circus for 2017 is off to a slow start, yes, but that may just mean auto makers are saving their best for Geneva or Frankfurt.
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