North American International Auto Show starts in Detroit

Where’s Waldo? The Detroit show floor will be completely new this year, its first major renovation in five years.

General Motors also got an early start to the day, revealing a zippy new Chevy Cruze hatchback and touting its electric Chevy Bolt, introduced at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. The event, one of the hallmark shows in the world, typically has many new vehicle introductions and often many concept vehicles that can give a preview to possible future production models.

SHAPIRO: Car companies are pouring some of their record profits from the a year ago into reinventing themselves for the future.

The 2016 North American International Auto Show is expected to witness more than 40 vehicle launches.

“It’s kind of what we’re known for”, Kuniskis said. They had stiff ride quality, tippy handling, poor fuel efficiency and minimal feature content. But “over the past 20 years each of these issues has been addressed by advances in engineering and technology”. “Spurred by historic investments from Ford and GM, Missouri’s automotive industry is back and better than ever – and we’re not done yet”. Michael Horn, president and CEO of Volkswagen Group of America, said sales of the Tiguan increased by 43 percent from 2014 to 2015. It will replace the Town and Country later this spring and, eventually, the Dodge Caravan. Since our plan went into effect, our automakers have added more than 640,000 new jobs.

Credit the success, especially in premium brands, to low gas prices and interest rates, low unemployment, and the relatively old age of the current fleet of cars on USA roads.

It will also offer a plug-in hybrid version that the automaker claims will get 80 miles to the gallon highway mileage. For quite a bit of time Lexus has been sure to push the design boundaries and while cars like the S-Class, 7-Series and A8 look rather conservative, this is far from it.

Nick Kurczewski Last year, there was no doubt about it, the incredible Ford GT supercar was the belle of the ball here in Detroit.

“We were very encouraged by the government reducing the purchase tax by 50 percent for automobiles in the fourth quarter”. Not only can these buyers qualify for a 60-month 0% loan, but if they trade in a Ford vehicle they already own or lease, the company will give them a $2,000 trade-assist bonus in cash. Auto sales hit a 27-year low in 2009, but last year “they hit an all-time high”, he said.

Other 2017 vehicle models that were unveiled include: BMW X4 M40i, Volvo S90 sedan, Porsche 911, BMW M2 coupe, Honda Ridgeline and the Lexus LC 500 sport coupe. James McBride, technical leader for autonomous vehicles at Ford Motor Company, told Xinhua that he was working on technology that would create a backbone for drive automation-based products and services.

“We are seeing a Detroit show now that reflects global realities”, he said. This year, General Motors debuted its Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicle at CES, while Volkswagen showed its experimental BUDD-e electric microbus. “There are certainly important vehicles there”, Jack Nerad, an analyst with Kelly Blue Book, said in a telephone interview.

Volvo’s new luxury sedan makes self-driving technology standard.