Just back from LA's press days. Few notes and opinions.

First of all, it's the 1st show in a while that wasn't dominated by an undercurrent of gloom or doubt about the future. All 3 aUS utomakers are in the positive in cash flow. All 3 had something to show.

Ironically, the most dull exibit belonged to Toyota.

My thoughts.

GM:

Chevrolet: The Volt as a car is pretty good. It's innovative, it looks pretty good, and it's interior makes Prius' look low rent. The Chevrolet Camaro convertibles (there were 2...red and a gun metal gray) were extremely well done. The "Hotwheels" setup (where you can get yourself a leaping 3-D picture with the convertible) was pretty cool. One ominous note: Of all the cars GM had there, the Corvette was perhaps the most ignored. Even with the ZR1 there and open to check out. With a new one about 4 years away, this should be a cause of concern. Of bigger cause of concern is that the Cruze was equally ignored.

Buick: Although everyone is fully aware that Buick is an "old mans" car division, what has been completely forgotten in the past 20 years is that even Buick's fabled Grand National and GNX were bought almost exclusively by guys in their late 40s to 50s. Younger guys started buying them up as used cars in the 90s (a fact that mistakenly leads people to believe that those Buicks sold to a younger buyer). There will be no such need to rewrite history with the new turbo Regal GS. It will attract 30-somethings. Lots of intrest in it.

Cadillac: Although there were 3 versions of the CTSv (coupe, sedan, and wagon), it's the little urban concept that was front and center. If you go back to the mid 70s and some of those car drawings that many people thought we'd wind up driving in the mid 80s to reach 27.5 mpg (vehicles that resembled glorified versions of the all electric "CitiCar"), you have what this Caddy looks like. The interior is actually pretty nice, but the exterior looks like a Cadillac front end stuck on a refrigerator box. I'd give it a zero chance of production unless fuel reached $10 per gallon or more.

GMC: Unlike the Cadillac ULC, the GMC Granite is something GM needs to put into production NOW! It's an innovative, Scion-like box thingy that not only looks great, but is extremly useful. A far better and more practical urban vehicle than the ULC.

FORD:

Mustang: In a hall that has no fewer than 4 different car companies inside and no fewer than 7 brand names, the first thing that you see coming into that wing is nothing but that blazing blue Boss Mustangsitting near the entrance. Even that all new Ford Focus sitting right next to it completely dissappears. Also the underhood is a work of art.

Fiesta: If Ford mamaged to sell as many of the current Fiestas as it has, the new one should fly off the shelves. The current Fiesta is a solid piece, and the new one is just as solid. But it looks sooo much better. Was the star of Ford's display. Plenty on hand to check out including customized versions that were likely fresh out of SEMA. There was a retnia searing copperish-orange (I don't think any other words can describe the color) RS version that if it winds up in Ford showrooms will gain many sales on the spot. The interior has perhaps the most comfortable seats (Recaros) and the most visual interior (black & orange) of the entire show.... and this is a production car!!!!...... That is likely to show up here in the US! Simply Wow.

Mercury & Volvo: Mercury, Gone. Volvo: Not part of the Ford display anymore

Chrysler:

Chrysler is moving towards great classic styling, while Dodge seems to be moving towards late-60s/early-70s performance heritage. While Chrysler's cars seemed to hint at style and class, going through Dodge's lineup seemed to be a walk into what one would expect a Dodge showroom to be around 1970.

200: Chrysler was 100% right in changing the name of this car and killing the Sebring name. Sure it has the same shape and door openings. But this isn't a Sebring. I went to check it out with the old "lipstick-on-a-pig" analogy on my mind. By the time I moved on what was on my mind was "thats's a pretty retarded analogy". Reason? It dismisses improvements on something that desparately needs it as useless. The 200 is so far and away improved over the Sebring that you realize exactly how much effort Chrysler put into it. It's extremely impressive. It's quieter. The materials are in an entirely different league. It's more solid. It seems to tap into Mercedes as far as exterior design (as much as you can make a Sebring go that route). Sebring was a non-starter in the mid-size market. The 200 is.

Avenger: At first, the idea that they skipped an exterior redo made little sense after revamping the 200. Oddly, now it makes sense. The exterior looks cleaned up (read sleeper) but yet there's dual chrome pipes poking out the back, big chrome 5 spoke rims, and the interior looks much like what you'd expect from a performance car. Sort of like an upscale Dodge Dart 340. Funny thing is that the Avenger is likely to become the quickest accelerating American mid-sized sedan with the new Pentastar V6.

Charger: The 1st one I saw wasn't inside the show. It was in the parking lot with Michagan manufacturers plates. I parked next to it. It was a burnt orange R/T. Name anything you'd dislike about the current Charger's exterior, and it's gone on the new one. Slab sides? Now they are sculptured much like the originial (as well as the 1999 concept). Bland front and hood? Now the sront sheetmetal looks almost as if it's been melted int something more sexy, and the hood sheetmetal has reverse creases that resemble the hood slots of the original. Boring tail end? Now it comes with LED lighting and a full with tailight that you'll be able to identify miles away when it lights up. The dash is a mixed bag. Materials are far and away better, and the doors were designed and put together with more effort and style. The new window shapes no longer make the back seat feel like sitting in a cell. But the dash trys too hard to recapture the 60s. Personally, I feel they should have used the current Charger dash as a jump off point. But still, the overall interior is a huge improvement.

Durango: When I 1st saw the last Durango at SF's show, I was stunned...in a very, very bad way. This time, the Durango looks fantastic. It has all the great looks of vthe original, and is more than enough to erase the image of the gargoyle-like last version.

The 300S is the current 300's swan song. It's essentially a 300C (right downb to the dual chrome tail pipes) with the current (not Pentastar) V6 and Viper's seats with cleaned up sides and unique aluminum wheels.

Across Chrysler's line are vastly improved materials inside, and a greater attention to detail all around. Haven't been in a Town and Country minivan in a while? Check it out now. Only sat in a Journey when it first came out? Go sit in one now. Didn't like the interiors design of Jeeps? You're about to have your views changed. Sure, the Wrangler and Patriot still have cheap plastic interiors (those interiors are designed to be hosed out believe it or not), but you'd be hard pressed to find a Cadillac or Lincoln that has a nicer and better made interior and general good looks as the Grand Cherokee.

 

Corvette is of concern but after 5+ years of being on the market, in a down economy for toy cars, I'm not THAT concerned. That said, C7 will have to be a bit more revolutionary styling-wise, like C4 -> C5 rather than C5 -> C6.

Snooze on the other hand? I guess with it being LA and Southern Californians being completely disinterested in American-branded economy cars I'm not surprised. Still, I saw a similar reaction to the car in Detroit last year. I just don't think the car has the staying power it will need in a tough segment.

 

continued...

One exibit worth noting was a new car company called Coda.

It's worth noting not because it has a new innovative vehicle (which to a degree it does, an all electric vehicle that plugs into a normal outlet), but worth noting because I measure the lifespan of the company in months if not nono-seconds.

Why?

The car they had on display was a cloth interiored car that seemed to be a cleaned up version of a car Kia was making a decade ago. The thing was going for $37,000......after the $7,500 tax rebate!!!

They had a full bar, they were one of the only displays that included free food, they pulled out all the stops. They had a great crowd. If they thought it was due to the car, they must have spent too much time at their own bar the night before.

Consider that a person has to pony up about $44,000 to buy this thing (you'd get credit when you file next year). Who is going to do this?!

The Volt is a nicer car (and about $5,000 cheaper).

The Hollywood crowd still wants a car that looks the part. Prius does. Volt does. The Cody looks like something that might be sold in India. Even China has nicer family cars.

Younger idealistic people won't buy these cars. A young person able to spend $250 per month on car payments is going to get a Cobalt or Fiesta or Focus. They aren't going to suddenly decide that they should pimp themselves to afford $600 per month payments in order to "save the enviroment". Middle class familys intrested in the enviroment are going to ****** up $29,000 Fusions and aren't going to even acknowledge the $44,000 Cody's existence.

The Cody, like it's auto show debut, is a great party with great food and drinks (most likely funded at taxpayer expense via grants and such for alternate energy startups). But sooner or later, all businesses have to make money and be viable. Unfortunately, Cody (much like Carbon) is based on ideas and business plans that were only half baked and pumped up with excessive fluff (great for getting attention, but you better have something that makes sense), and wind up relying on the government (and taxpayers) to keep them afloat.

Carbon Motors' entire existance now relys on the Feds buying their police only cars because no one else is (despite their ridiculous "departments are reserving cars" claims). If Cody doesn't get continued money from the Feds, I predict they'll be folded by this time next year, if not sooner, after selling only a few dozen cars to rich and socially concious people looking for a tax writeoff.

 

Camaros are still hot. Very hot.

Mustangs are still of high intrest. They are still selling like crazy.

Dodge likely sells more Challengers here than in any other region of the US. Especially now that the fear of Chrysler disappearing the following month is gone.

Ask anyone about the Ford display and the attention it got.

No... the issue isn't American branded cars in SoCal. All of the US 3 got good attention. (Toyota's display was all but a ghost town).

Issue is (outside the Grand Sport, which apparently is the only Corvette selling) the Corvette is drifting into irrelevence.... very quickly.

 

saw my first cruze on the road today...didn't even look twice. did GM even try with that thing? it looks like a bland econo car, no styling whatsoever; looks like every other chevrolet out there. chevy needs to ditch that corporate grill and fast.

i don't understand how the new buicks can look so elegant and appealing, but at the same time all the new chevy's are just..

while i'm sure the interior of the cruze is outstanding, does GM not realize customers are going to see the exterior first?

 

A couple of corrections, Guy. The compact Ford was the Focus, not the Fiesta. The orange SE version was the ST, not the RS. The ST is an American model, and will follow the standard Focus introduction by a few months.

The Focus will be hitting dealerships in the first quarter of 2011.

 

Ran on about zero sleep those 2 days then drove back here overnight with a friend. Wanted to get impressions down before running off to work 10 hours.

Guess I should have slept before writing.

 

LOL. I knew that you knew what car it was.

I sometimes post something when I am extremely tired, or sick.................. then look at it later, and go "what was I thinking." (or not thinking)

 

You mean they've found a cure for the mid life crisis?

 

I was there last night. Good show. We have some friends working at the Ford exhibit so we spent quite a bit of time there. I got to sit in the Boss 302 while on the chassis dyno while Cam did the simulated 1/4 mile shifting. Very nice I must day. It sounds great.

Ford had quite a bit of buzz but they have had that the last 3 years at this show. Our friends working for their exhibit say they have seen attendance to their area rise each of the last 3 years. They expect the same this year.

GM had an odd display IMO. Buick and Chevy were front and center with GMC and Caddilac tucked in behind. Caddy was really disapointing because the Chevy/Buick display almost completely blocked the view. Their Urban Concept was odd.

Buick looked good. Regal GS will be real nice. But again why isn't here now???

Chevy had an odd display in that the Vettes and Camaros were almost seperated from the rest of the display by a walkway and those care were facing off against Mercedes Benz, BMW and Audi. It did look cool to see the Camaros lined up with halos on and just a few feet away the BMW's facing them. I think one of the reasons the Vette was ignored is because it was in the cross fire from Camaro/Volt and the German brands.

Volt is amazing. Its very nice inside and out I think it will be a hit. Its a great balance in style and comfort that a standard sedan has with the obvious improvements in fuel economy. Although one of the questions I heard asked a few times was what about those living in apartments and trying to charge their Volt. A friend of mine was working the display and I offered up an answer. Just use the neighbors plug! It was worth a chuckle in the crowd.

New Charger looks great. Love the new style. I'm a bit patrial to them but I feel like the 2011's are going to be a nice improvement. The red R/T with red interior was quite nice. The interior feel was a drawback on the first Gen. Not this time.
Durango was quite nice as well.
Grand Cherokee was getting a lot of attention and looked great. Although their selection and options were a bit off. Could have used one more well trimmed out model on the floor.

Overall a good show. I do get the feeling that the American brands are gaining ground and from what I saw generating equal if not a bit better than the Japanese rivals. In this land of status it's hard to beat the German brands for attention.

 

Attract versus buy is an interesting distinction. Most 30-somethings probably will not be able to afford a Regal GS unless they make a well-above-average income.

It was probably the same thing back in the 80s with the GN and GNX. That and the fact that the budget for the car didn't allow development of a chassis and interior to do the engine justice.

 

There was a video posted the other day of GM pulling all their important cars in front of the NYSE, and first thing I noticed was no Corvette. I mean you have a Camaro convertible, Cruz, Volt, Duramax Sierra, CTS-V, and NO Corvette?

I know it is old and stale..but acting like it does not exist does not help sales.

As for the Regal..it does not interest me. Underpowered, overweight, and while some like the styling, I think it is plain and fogettable. You could put a Toyota, VW, or any other brand on the grille of the car and it would not look out of place.

 

I said economy cars. Pay attention.

 

I would by no means call Regal underpowered or overweight. If you're coming out of a Miata, then it might seem overweight. If you're coming out of a Camaro SS, then maybe underpowered. But as a whole, it's right in with today's mainstream sedan performance and weight.

As for GM pretending the Corvette doesn't exist, hardly true. The public simply isn't buying the Corvette anymore with the sole exception of the Grand Sport (which is a hell of a value...a Z06 without the engine for a ton less money!). Pouring advertizing money on a well known, aspirational vehicle (which in itself is a car that people buy almost solely as a reward to themselves) at a time GM has so many new vehicles coming out that need the advertizing money would be a huge misdirection of resources.

The Corvette Grand Sport and the new ZR1 were both there on the floor. I glanced at them twice... onece as I was walking to the Camaro "Hot Wheels" display after checking out the Volt, and once as I was walking back over to Mercedes Benz's after getting in the new Mini crossover thingy.

I didn't stop at the Corvettes. I didn't check them out. I didn't get inside (all vehicles have access during press days save the high cost concepts).

I didn't because I've been seeing the same car for years.

There's a whole world of far more intresting cars.

Wanna hear something funny?

There were far and away more people on press days checking out the new Boss Mustang than were checking out the Corvettes. Go figure.

That's not GM pretending they don't exist.... that's the press and public not intrested in them.

Hey.... like I said, I was tired.

 

What's your point? That something brand new is going to attract more attention than something that's been out for a while? Get right outta town!

Want to speculate about how much attention was given to the Corvette vs. the Mustang at a given show when the C6 debuted, while the current production (and about to be replaced) '04 Cobra was on display at the Ford booth? Or how much attention was given to the Z06 or the ZR1 when they made their debut?

The new Camaro was slathered with attention when it made its debut. Three years from now, it won't get nearly the same attention. The press is there to cover NEWS. A carryover model (like the current Corvette lineup) isn't news. A new model (like the Boss Mustang or the Camaro convertible) is news. A new Honda Accord (or whatever) is pretty big news in the auto world, and it is covered as such. How much press coverage does an Accord get in the subsequent years prior to a redesign?

That said, the new Vette needs to get here sooner rather than later. But a lack of attention by the press isn't really all that alarming given that it's a carryover year.