Bevin promoting Kentucky at auto show

Last year was the US auto industry’s best year ever, breaking a record that stood for a decade and a half.

President Barack Obama said Saturday that he would visit the Detroit Auto Show this month so he can personally see how the industry has recovered since he took office. In 2016 one of the SUVs GM sells in America – – the Buick Envision – will be, for the first time, imported from China, to the chagrin of the United Auto Workers union, a key Obama constituency. Because I believe that every American should be proud of what our most iconic industry has done. In his first official USA visit since the scandal broke in September, newly-tapped CEO Matthias Mueller insisted the German auto giant is “fully committed to making things right”.

The Detroit show isn’t the biggest in terms of public attendance or square footage – in the U.S., those honors go to NY and Chicago. The Wolfsburg-based group admitted to installing software in around 11 million diesel cars of its VW, Audi, SEAT and Skoda brands worldwide that helped them evade emissions standards after U.S. regulators discovered the problem. Semi-autonomous driving capabilities including changing lanes by itself and maintaining a safe distance from the auto in front at speeds of up to 130 miles per hour. The North American International Auto Show opens next week in the Motor City. We said the auto industry would have to truly change, not just pretend that it did.

“When [modern consumers] get into their cars, they expect to stay connected with simple and easy smartphone integration”, said Rachelle Petusky, an Autotrader research analyst. Mercedes will also try to steal the spotlight by revealing its new E class luxury sedan at a party Sunday night. Sales were up by almost 6 percent.

Move over Town & Country and Dodge Caravan, Chrysler’s new Pacifica will soon replace both in the company’s minivan roster. The 2017 Fusion will have a plug-in hybrid model, with a new Platinum luxury package available, and a Sport model with a 325-horsepower twin-turbo powered engine more potent than a BMW 3340. Don’t worry, we’ve saved the concept cars for a separate story.

In the market for high-end and luxury vehicles, NAIAS will present a large number of innovations from global and North American automakers.

“We’re very excited about the entire Buick lineup”, GM chief Mary Barra said.

Honda, meanwhile, will show an all-new Ridgeline pickup, and Lincoln will introduce the production version of its new Continental full-size sedan, a vehicle that sparked controversy as a concept because it strongly resembled a Bentley.

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Most of the other introductions in Detroit will be fairly run-of-the-mill: conventional Buicks, Chryslers, Hondas, Fords and the like.