Detroit Auto Show

Tom went to the Detroit Auto Show with his work last week on Supplier Preview Day and saw some neat stuff. Below is his summary of what he saw:

The show itself was incredible. Each automaker had a large and very expensive pavilion and most had brought their entire car lines to show off. The concept cars were were very impressive.




The photos above are, in order: the Honda Civic concept, Hyundai Equus, Hyundai Curb concept (front and side photos), and Hyundai Veloster prototype. The Civic concept was similar to the production model but had much more aggressive styling and looked like a race car. The rest of their lineup was not as exciting as the concept, but were still some nice vehicles.

Hyundai was in my opinion one of the standouts of the show. The Equus is a very impressive luxury vehicle and can easily go toe to toe with a Lexus. The Curb concept had suicide doors and styling that I think would appeal to younger folks if it ever makes it to production. The Veloster is not a true concept, as it will most likely be in production soon. It has three doors (four, if you include the hatchback), and, again, styling that will appeal to younger folks. The three doors (one on the driver's side, two on the passenger's) are a surprise. Hyundai has done a fantastic job building their brand in the last few years and I like that they are willing to take risks like this.




In order these are: Porsche Panamera sedan (front and rear), Audi R8 Spyder, Tesla Roadster, and Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG E-Cell concept. The Panamera is Porche's answer to the four door sedan. Interesting vehicle.

The Audi is a beautiful car and showed off a couple of recent trends in high end vehicles: carbon fiber and matte finish paint. You can see the black, carbon fiber paneling and spoiler on the car, which does a great job of reducing weight without sacrificing strength. The matte or satin finish paint does a great job of being expensive and making hand prints more noticeable. Without a glossy overcoat it looked a bit dull. This is a fantastically beautiful car, but I don't get the matte finish trend.

The Tesla was a neat car and a very popular pavilion. They were also showing off their new sedan, to come out sometime in the near future. But, they only could display an unfinished body hovering over a frame, with the battery pack, motor, and powertrain visible.

The Mercedes I believe will be in production in the future, so lookout for a yellow highlighter colored sports car rocketing past you on the freeway. It is a pretty car, aside from the paint job--which, incidentally, was also matte finish--but, I wish they had been displaying it with the gullwing doors open. Electric vehicles like this were a big thing at the show.



These are: the Venturi Buckeye Bullet, Chevy Volt, and an LCD cluster display in a Lexus. The Venturi is an electric test vehicle that set the land speed record of 302 mph for an EV on the Bonneville salt flats near Salt Lake City, Utah. The Volt photo was an obligatory one for anyone who went to the show. The Lexus display is very cool: it is an LCD cluster that is customizable to show any number of things, along with speed, fuel, etc.


These are: the 2011 Ford Explorer and 2012 Ford Focus. Ford had probably the most crowded pavilion at the show and made some of its most exciting vehicles. These photos don't do the cars justice. They are both very good looking vehicles.




In order, these are: QR codes used at the Audi and Subaru booths and an augmented reality display at the VW booth.

The marketer inside of me was impressed by the QR codes that Audi and Subaru used in their displays. With one quick scan I was able to download brochures and product info that was much nicer than walking around with a bunch of print materials in my hand. I was also impressed by VW's augmented reality display, where you would hold a cube with text printed on the sides up to the screen and it would then build the technology in front of you. It is hard to see in the photo, but there is a TDI engine being shown to the left of the reflection of my hand. Very cool stuff.