Detroit Auto Show

Detroit Auto Show, The North American International Auto Show opens to the public on January 14, 2012. Memories from a half-century ago came driving back into Robert Farmer’s mind as he toured the 2012 North American International Auto Show Saturday in Detroit.

“I had one of the original Darts for probably 15 years,” said the 72-year-old Adrian resident at Cobo Center. “There’s no comparison.”

Farmer, who owned a Dodge Dart in the early 60s, said the new Dart unveiled by Chrysler Group LLC at the Detroit auto show this year is great, but he’d still go with the original if he had to choose.

“It’d be hard, but I think I’d probably choose one of the old ones,” he said. “The original ones had big engines and everything.”

Farmer was one of thousands to attend the opening public day of the 2012 NAIAS Saturday. He, and numerous others, said the show has become a family tradition for the gear head in all of us.

Karen Doering, of Grand Blanc, shared the show this year with her entire family, including her 14-year-old daughter Mariah.

“My whole family is here,” she said as she looked at the Chevrolet Tru 140S concept. “My dad worked for GM, so he used to bring me every year.”

This year’s NAIAS features more than 500 vehicles from 54 manufacturers, including dozens of worldwide premiers, and about 165 exhibits. It is open to the public each day at 9 a.m. through Jan. 22 at Cobo Center, One Washington Blvd. in Detroit.

New Detroit Big Three vehicles at the show include the 2013 Ford Fusion, Lincoln MKZ concept,2013 Buick Encore, 2013 Dodge Dart and a number of concept vehicles, such as the Chevrolet Tru 140S and Code 130R

Enlarge Katie Rausch/MLive Katie Rausch | MLive.com The 2013 Ford Fusion is rolled out Monday morning at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The new Fusion has a number of new technological features as well as offering hybrid models. Ford is hoping to gain ground in the midsize sedan market with the Fusion. 01-09-2012 North American International Auto Show Big Three gallery (18 photos)
And while numerous automakers continue to focus on fuel efficiency and electric vehicles, the majority of crowds late Saturday morning were focusing around the cars they might not be able to see on the road, such as Bentley models, concepts and high-performance sports cars.

“I like the Flex and the (Ford Mustang) Boss 302 – that’s my favorite,” said Paul, 13, whose father, Matt O’Mara, oversaw design and construction of Ford’s massive display, which features numerous interactive LED screens.

The Royal Oak father said the auto show really showcases the best the Motor City has to offer.

“It’s great to just bring him in and show him what can be done by people based in Detroit,” he said. “This was all designed and built by Detroiters. It’s a real sense of pride to be able to share that.”

That “pride” resonates with non-Detroiters as well. Jeremy Snape and Kyle Gibson, both 25, braved the snow Saturday to come up from Columbus to see the auto show.

“We’re just in to cars,” Snape said. “We’re going to walk around and see everything.”

NAIAS officials say this year’s show could be the most-popular one in years. Attendance during this week’s press preview and industry days were both up compared to last year; and ticket sales for Friday night’s Charity Preview attracted 12,000 people, up from 10,649 last year.

More than 770,000 people, including 5,183 journalists from 55 countries, attended last year’s Detroit auto show.

Tickets for this year’s show are available at the door, online at www.naias.com and by calling 248-283-5173. They cost $12 for adults; $6 for senior citizens and children 7 to 12; and are free to children 6 and under.

2013 Ford Fusion

2013 Ford Fusion, Ford’s redesigned 2013 Fusion, introduced today at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, will add a plug-in hybrid version and feature technology previously available only on luxury models.

The new Fusion will come with a choice of power plants, each of which the company says will deliver better gas mileage than competing mid-size sedans of similar engine type. The turbocharged, 1.6-liter gasoline “Ecoboost” engine will get expected ratings of 26 MPG in city driving, 37 on the highway.

The revamped Fusion Hybrid ratings should be 47 MPG in city driving, 44 on the highway, topping the Toyota Camry and Hyundai Sonata hybrids. The new lithium-ion batteries will allow the Fusion to continue under solely electric power to 62 mph before the gas engine kicks in instead of the previous cutoff at 47 mph.

The all-new model will be the oddly-spelled Fusion Energi plug-in hybrid. With a power plant similar to the regular hybrid, its batteries can additionally be recharged by plugging in the vehicle. Ford expects to get a rating of 100 MPGe -the mileage per gallon equivalent used by the Environmental Protection Agency for plug-in cars. That will better the Chevrolet Volt and the forthcoming Toyota Prius plug-in model, Ford says.

Ford also has loaded the 2013 Fusion with new technology features, some of which were available previously only on luxury models. Here’s a closer look at some of that new technology:

Detroit Auto Show

Detroit Auto Show, Reporting from Detroit—Signs that the auto industry recovery is likely to continue this year are everywhere at the North American International Auto Show — massive two-story video screens, dozens of futuristic concept and previously unseen vehicles and thousands of car parts suppliers and vendors.

The industry’s biggest annual confab opening Monday looks to be glitzier and larger than in many years, driven by rising auto sales and financially healthier manufacturers.

Nissan Motor Co., for example, is back after a three-year absence. The company plans to show off the direction it is taking with the next generation of its Pathfinder sport-utility vehicle.

“It has to do with the economy, there is no doubt,” said Rod Alberts, executive director of the industry gathering, also known as the Detroit auto show.

The hometown auto companies are on a roll. The three big Detroit carmakers all logged double-digit sales growth last year, helping to fuel a 10.3% increase in the auto industry’s U.S. sales to 12.8 million vehicles, its best since 2008.

This year’s show is expected to be notable for debuts of new versions of the Ford Fusion and the Honda Accord, two of the biggest sellers in the family car market.

There also will be the return of the Dodge Dart, the famous Chrysler Group nameplate last offered in 1976. This time it will have an Italian flair. The new Dart is based on the architecture of the Alfa Romeo Giulietta. Italian automaker Fiat owns Alfa Romeo and holds a controlling interest in Chrysler.

Luxury brands also will be making important market and styling statements at the show.

General Motors Co.’s Cadillac division will unveil its new ATS sports sedan — the car it hopes will take on the BMW 3 series, the perennial leader in that market.

Lexus, the luxury arm of Toyota Motor Corp., will show off its LF-LC, a highly styled concept of an advanced hybrid sports coupe.

Designed by Toyota’s Calty Design Research studio in Newport Beach, the car is an example of the new styling direction of Lexus as it tries to put zip back in cars that at times have been criticized for conservative styling.

“This car symbolizes that next step, our passion for automobiles and where we want to go with Lexus.” said Kevin Hunter, president of the design studio. “We want to be more bold.”

He called it “sexy and aggressive” but noted that the vehicle is a design study and that there is no commitment to bring it into production.

“But generally when we make concept cars we make them for a purpose.” Hunter said.

Detroit Auto Show 2011

Detroit Auto Show 2011, (AP) – The 2011 Chevrolet Volt got another jolt of marketing Monday when he received the North American Car of the Year.

The car that runs on electricity for 40 miles before a gas engine backup comes into play beat the Nissan Leaf, another power, and Hyundai Sonata in the annual ceremony on the first day of media previews for the auto show Detroit.

The Ford Explorer has won the truck of the year, the third consecutive year, the Dearborn-based manufacturer of pinch honor. Truck finalists were the Dodge Durango, Explorer and Jeep Grand Cherokee.

Forty-nine automotive journalists from the United States and Canada made the picks. Vehicles are judged on innovation, design, safety, handling, driver satisfaction and value.

This is the latest in a string of accolades for the Volt, which went on sale in limited markets and costs in December and 40,280. It was named Green Car of the Year International Auto Show in Los Angeles in November and Motor Trend and Automobile Magazine named the Volt car year 2011, the same month.

General Motors Co. Vice President Tom Stephens said the Volt “is the soul of the new GM on the rebound after suffering a bankruptcy-led government in 2009. GM sold between 250 and 350 in December and Chevy Volt Nissan’s sales totaled fewer than 10 sedans Leaf in the last two weeks. Production for both is slowly rising.

This will in 2012 before both the Volt and Leaf, which costs $ 32,780, are available nationally. Initially the demand is high: Nearly 50,000 people are already on waiting lists.

The Volt is being assembled in Detroit. GM expects it will sell 10,000 of them in 2011 and between 35,000 and 45,000 in 2012. By comparison, Chevrolet Malibu sedans sold 187,250 in the first 11 months of 2010 with prices starting at 21,975 and sticker.

Stephens said the Volt is not a “scientific experiment” – but “intended to be a vehicle at high volume” that industry is the first initiatives beyond petroleum as a primary energy source.

Mark Fields, Ford’s president for the Americas, said the company has reinvented the SUV with the explorer, based on the fundamentals of car and improves fuel economy on the old model. Customers, he said, wanted a rugged vehicle that can also handle the suburbs.

Manufacturers in advertising often use the prices.

Last year’s winners were the two vehicles Ford Fusion sedan hybrid midsize and Ford Transit Connect. This is the 18th year for the selections.

AP Auto Writer Tom Krisher contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Detroit Auto Show 2010

Detroit Auto Show 2010,When the North American Car of the Year and the North American Truck of the Year awards were handed out at the 2010 North American International Auto Show in Detroit today, it appeared to be the Ford Motor Company that reigned supreme.

According to nytimes.com, Ford Motor Company managed to bag both awards, with the Ford Fusion Hybrid winning the car award, and the mold-breaking Transit Connect van winning the judge’s votes in the truck of the year category.

Having the Ford Fusion Hybrid winning the car award, means that it is the fourth time that a gasoline-electric hybrid car has won the award in the 17 years that the awards have been going. Ford’s Escape Hybrid won the award in 2005.

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