What is NAIAS? It's a bulwark of American authenticity, the last outpost of American values before the global Asian peril - which is now, 47 years after Pearl Harbour, threatening the American automobile industry again.
An event everybody was waiting for - some with anticipation, others with dread and others still simply with curiosity - finally happened just a little while ago: General Motors, for many years a dominant force in the world car industry, had to step down and leave the first place for the Japanese Toyota. Now GM's top managers are doing everything they can to lift their company back to the top of this notional but still quite important rating, while other American corporations, Ford and Chrysler, experience a prolonged recession and have a long way to go to financial stability.
Against this far-from-encouraging background, the Detroit Motor Show was supposed to demonstrate that despite everything, the American automobile industry is in good shape and can still beat the Asian makers advancing on all fronts.
Americans braced themselves and plunged into a counterattack, relying on the principle "there's no place like home". GM alone fired a salvo of premieres and concepts which were supposed to show who was the boss in the de luxe segment. And it worked: not one but two GM premieres have been named the best by the AutoWeek magazine: Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 won the Best In Show title while Cadillac CTS Coupe was called the "Best Concept Car".
Corvette ZR1's victory was well-deserved: it will be the most powerful and the fastest car ever made by GM. The supercharged 6.2-litre V8 engine has 462 kilowatt/620 hp power (SAE) and 823 Nm torque, which gives the car the top speed of 320 kmph.
Cadillac CTS Coupe concept is a return to the roots and at the same time a glimpse at the future, an attempt to imagine how a sports Cadillac will look in a couple of years, when it goes in production. There's one thing which is already clear about CTS Coupe: the brand's fans now have decent nourishment for their wet dreams.
If CTS Coupe is something from the future (albeit not so remote one), CTS-V 2009 is a quite tangible reality. In fact so tangible that the German manufacturers of souped-up sedans should be very much aware of this newcomer. It's ready to compete with them in terms of dynamics (the announced engine power is 550 hp), the level of comfort and technology alike. In particular, CTS-V boasts a unique Performance Traction Management system and a new automatic gearbox with steering wheel-mounted controls.
America is a SUV country, there's no going away from that, so no American motor show goes without a premiere in this category. This year's Detroit was no exception. However, high oil prices force even American makers to look for alternatives to traditional hydrocarbons. The same GM "treated" the public to three more or less "green" concepts: de luxe crossover Provoq running on hydrogen fuel cells, extravagant Hummer HX convertible whose engine – 3.6-litre SIDI V-6 of the FlexFuel family - runs on E85 fuel (a mixture of 85% ethanol and 15% petrol), and no less environmentally friendly product by Swedish Saab craftsmen – Saab 9-4X BioPower. Saab 9-4X is a compact crossover with immediately recognisable Saab design and 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbocharged BioPower engine. If that car goes in production it will be a serious competitor in this niche.
The stakes here are especially high because there's another Detroit premiere competing for a place under the sun in that segment: Mercedes GLK crossover which made an appearance in a popular movie about urbanisation and sex. Though it's not quite clear just what the GLK was doing there - calling it sexy would be stretching it, though it's unquestionably a town car, especially in the Townside version. The same GLK in the Freeside version should feel more confident on moderately bad roads thanks to the body design and efficient underrun protection. The engines are fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly four-cylinder Bluetec of the latest generation, working in tandem with seven-step automatic 7G-Tronic transmission and the latest version of 4Matic permanent four-wheel drive. The question is, will that be enough for GLK to become the "Х3 killer", as it was called a long time before the car was actually around? The jury is still out on that one.
Another noteworthy premiere in the crossover segment was presented by the British division of Ford, Land Rover. The LRX concept is a three-door cross-coupe which is supposed to take in the company's model line the place before Land Rover Freelander 2, i.e. squeeze into the same compact SUVs segment. LRX's advantages - provided it goes in production - include an efficient hybrid turbo-diesel which can run on bio-diesel fuel. Note that at low speed LRX moves solely on rear-wheel electric drive, switching on the engine only at 32 kmph or higher. High-voltage high-capacity lithium-ion battery independent from the ordinary 12-volt battery (charged by regenerative braking system) is supposed to provide sufficient range. LRX's interior is done in the best brand's tradition, blending innovation and functionality - which, combined with the striking appearance, should attract young and active audience.
The concepts presented by Chrysler Group - which is living through a not particularly lucky period - also target the same "young and advanced" end of the market. Trying to find a new identity, Chrysler's designers have also turned to environmental ideas; the result was several actually quite nice and promising concepts, running on alternative fuel.
Chrysler ecoVoyager is a four-door single-volume car with "pronounced American design" and a hybrid engine combining lithium-ion battery with a small hydrogen fuel cell. The car's total range exceeds 300 miles, with only water vapour being emitted into the atmosphere.
Dodge ZEO is a four-door sport estate car with the brand-name Dodge aggressive look and a powerful 268 hp engine (acceleration time to a "hundred" is less than 6 seconds). And that is not all: ZEO has zero emissions because its engine is electrical; the range is at least 250 miles (400 kilometres).
Jeep Renegade concept can't boast total lack of harmful emissions, and quite understandably: predators can't turn into herbivores overnight. But this compact sport two-seater crossover convertible got a power system which combines a lithium-ion battery good enough for 65 km and a compact Bluetec Diesel engine. The end result is high fuel efficiency: over 110 miles per gallon. An open top, shortened windshield, protective frame, apertures in the doors and easy-to-clean passenger compartment - all that adds up to a new environmentally friendly car with minimalistic design (by the way, by our countryman Anton Shamenkov).
Yet another American concept, Lincoln MKT is supposed to break the image of Lincoln as rich retired people's brand. The unusual design of the body - halfway between hatchback and crossover - makes one remember Renault's and Opel's experiments with car classes, but in the MKT case it evokes no rejection: the car looks too majestic and luxurious for that. Throw in a turbocharged 415 hp V6 engine of the new EcoBoost family designed to run on bio-ethanol (E85) fuel, a full-wheel drive and six-step automatic transmission, and you'll know what Americans mean by new environmentally-conscious luxury. Oh, and I almost forgot: Innovative Plastics was instrumental in creating this concept car - the company which was involved in the work on such concepts as Chevrolet Volt and Hyundai QarmaQ, made with recycled plastics.
However, not many people can these days compete with Mazda when it comes to concepts. Invoking the powerful Zoom-Zoom spirit, Mazda designers just keep turning up new amazing concepts since the end of 2006. First came Nagare, than Ryuga, Hakaze, Taiki… Now the Mazda pantheon has yet another god, Furai. This concept was created "thinking about providing sustainable energy supply. It was originally designed to work on 100% ethanol. It’s the first-ever three-rotor rotary engine which runs on ethanol". Also, according to Franz von Holzhausen, chief designer of Mazda's North American division who headed the Furai project, the designers were asked to find a way to narrow the gap between sport and production Mazda cars.
Designed on the basis of a racing bolide which took part in American Le Mans Series (ALMS) and equipped with the ever-present 450-hp rotor engine, Furai remains a concept - but the improved Mazda RX-8 is something quite real. The famous sports coupe was subjected to certain insignificant reshaping (it's hard to call the previous-generation RX-8 design "obsolete"): the new version got new front and rear bumpers, new optics and bigger exhaust pipes. Inside, the instruments panel was a bit refashioned, the seats made even more comfortable and rear passengers are promised a bit more knee room. But the main thing about RX-8 is of course its driving performance. The new Mazda RX-8 comes with one of two engines: 232 hp with a six-step mechanical gearbox and 212 hp with an also six-step but automatic Sport A/T transmission. In the latter case, gear shifts are positioned on the steering wheel to make you feel like a Formula 1 driver. The debut RX-8 immediately got R3 equipment package including sport mouldings, forged 19-inch wheel disks and high-speed tires. The interior package includes 300 Wt Bose® audio system with Centerpoint® Surround Sound function and AudioPilot® noise suppression system, Bluetooth®, Recaro front sports seats with leather-upholstered arm rests, leather-upholstered parking brake handle and key-less access and start-up system. In a word, it’s a serious claim for victory.
It looks like Volkswagen is going to make up for commercial failure of its Phaeton business-class model: the company brought over a Mercedes CLS competitor in oxymoron class, the "four-door coupe" Passat CC. Elegant but dynamic lines, precise proportions - the СС looks much more interesting than its rather dull burgher-like elder brother Passat. The interior doesn't look all that different from the sedan, and the engine line is also almost the same - from 1.8-litre 160 hp TSI to 3.6-litre 300 hp. Passat CC becomes available in Europe this spring, while the US customers will have to wait almost till winter.
Another new exhibit brought by Volkswagen Group was Audi R8 V12 TDI Concept. As the name suggests, this supercar comes not with a petrol engine but with a Diesel - and not just any Diesel but the kind installed in the famous R10 prototypes which have won Le Mans twice in the last two years. The engine boasts 500 hp power (150 less than the racing ancestor) and 1,000 NM torque, accelerating this "Diesel bolide" to 100 kmph in 4.2 seconds and providing the top speed of 300 kmph. Note that Audi R8 V12 TDI Concept meets Euro 6 requirements which will become effective only in a few years' time. Commendable.
And an amusing incident for dessert. At the last year's Geneva Motor Show, Koenigsegg presented the CCXR "beast" with a 1,018 hp engine decorated with a green flower and Flower Power slogan. That kind of thing no longer turns heads. The proof is Ferrari F430 Spider… which runs on bio-fuel and was decorated with - what do you think? Oh no, not a flower but a leaf, though it's still green. Ferrari F430 Bio Fuel Concept' tank is supposed to be filled with popular in the USA Е85 fuel (85% ethanol, 15% petrol). People will do anything for the environment!
Ilya Kalinov
Photoreport
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