Governor Bevin to promote Kentucky’s auto industry at North American

Hi everybody. Seven years ago, the American auto industry was on the brink of collapse. “Plants were closing. Hundreds of thousands of workers were getting laid off … another one million Americans would have lost their jobs”, he said. Numerous companies there can make good partners, he said, even if they also are acting increasingly like competitors in some ways. The plan was initiated under president George W. Bush, but Obama largely oversaw the bailout. During the recession, the federal government – read: taxpayers – bailed out General Motors and Chrysler (which includes Jeep), enabling the companies to emerge quickly from managed bankruptcies and preventing the domestic supply chain from collapsing. Ford did not take any bailout funds. We’ll know very soon if this mystery auto is the LC as Detroit starts next week. Chrysler says it incorporated 37 innovative features, one of the quirkiest being pre-loaded video games and an animated trip tracker for kids that Chrysler says will forever end the ‘Are we there yet?’ cries. “It is always an honor to represent the Show-Me State at America’s premier automotive showcase as we continue to strengthen Missouri’s position as a global leader in auto manufacturing and innovation”. “It’s a big part of what automakers are doing on the gas side of the business”.

Tuesday morning at the auto show, IBM detailed results of a poll of 16,000 people that found “a high level of interest in self-enabling vehicles, or cars that can learn, heal, drive and socialize”.

The auto show also will lay bare another juggling act for Detroit. Because I believe that every American should be proud of what our most iconic industry has done.

Stay tuned to AutoSpies.com for the latest breaking news related to the 2016 Detroit Auto Show (NAIAS)!

Two foreign automakers managed to beat domestic competitors for prestigious awards at this year’s North American International Auto Show.

The “Detroit Three” automakers racked up record sales and profits in the USA market last year not because of electric cars or plug-in hybrids, but because of soaring demand for pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles fueled by gasoline prices that hit multi-year lows.

2015 was a great year for automakers, with vehicle sales topping 17 million and surpassing the record set in 2000.

Technology and “mobility” were, in fact, the themes of the Ford Motor Company’s presentation during the press preview this year.

Kelley Blue Book analyst Rebecca Lindland more or less agrees: “As long as there are children, there will be sliding doors”, Lindland said.

Fiat Chrysler is hoping to woo moms back into the dreaded minivan with a major revamp of its Town and Country, which it renamed the Pacifica and insists will “reinvent” the segment. “I think the overall experience is surprising to a first-time auto show goer because they expect sleazy salesmen, half clad women”. They warned that, in addition to technical issues, there are legal issues to be dealt with.

On the other hand, Mercedes-Benz launched its next-generation E Class vehicle Sunday night and besides illustrating how truly smart the latest auto is, the presentation featured a lecture on artificial intelligence by an MIT professor who assured those in the audience, including NASCAR and IndyCar team owner Roger Penske, that despite all the advances, technology is nowhere close to outsmarting humans.