2012 New York: If You Can Drive It Here, You Can Drive It Anywhere…
NOT IN THE BACK OF THE NISSAN NV200 TAXI, WHERE I HAD PLANNED TO WRITE THIS BLOG, NEW YORK – This is my 16th New York International Auto Show, and I can’t remember another more loaded with significant new cars and trucks. Non-automotive media have for years tried to play up the “Green” slant to this show, but not this year. The Infiniti LE concept is the only such car making its debut here, if you don’t count hybrid versions of cars also sold with conventional internal combustion engines, such as the Lexus ES and Chevrolet Impala.
Here’s what I saw:
Most Significant
SRT Viper, of course. Not because it will sell in remotely big numbers, or even make any money for Chrysler Group. It’s a halo car, after all. Design chief Ralph Gilles says it’s crucial for the soul of the company, and that’s all that matters. Pre-unveil buzz on the Viper is that the model’s many fans were disappointed in the styling, and from far back in the crowd at the press conference, it looked like a mild rework of the original GTS. Look more closely, and it’s a nicely refined Viper. With its federally mandated stability control and its Ferrari-supplier seats, its probably a much better car to drive than the original. The new, lighter, 600-horsepower car gets the kind of update that has kept the Porsche 911 relevant for 48 years.
Most Significant Car Not Here
Jaguar F-Type. Automakers, especially the European luxury ones, have learned to stretch out unveilings to get the most ink/glowing words for upcoming models. And why not? After all, this is the follow-up to the E-Type.
Best Sedan Launch
Lincoln MKZ. Good to see Lincoln managed to translate the Detroit concept into a real, real good-looking midsize luxury sedan. If the ’13 Ford Fusion has an Aston Martin-like grille, the ’13 Lincoln MKZ has an Aston-like tail. The brand might just survive, after all.
2012 New York: Lexus Fightin’ Words – New ES vs E-Class?
Lexus’ press conference got off to mild start with Lexus Vice President/General Manager Mark Templin discussing new model rollouts (nine this year) and the success of the Lexus RX (sales leader in the luxury SUV segment for 14 straight years).
To ensure RX keeps its crown, Templin then trotted out the sporty version of the RX we first saw in Geneva, the RX F Sport. For those who couldn’t make it to Switzerland, Templin reiterated that this RX was not merely kitted out with an appearance package. The F Sport badge means substantial performance upgrades including F Sport suspension tuning and an 8-speed automatic transmission with paddle shifters.
All fine and good, but it wasn’t until Templin started talking about the all-new ES that he came out swinging.
“Since its introduction in 1989, the ES has been the benchmark for quality, reliability, ride comfort and value. This is no longer JUST an entry luxury car! This ES is SO, good, it can go toe-to-toe with cars in more expensive segments – like the Mercedes Benz E-Class,” he said stalking the stage.
“That’s how confident we are in this car! It’s the same length and width and has more interior space than the E-Class. They both have 3.5-liter engines, yet the ES will cost THOUSANDS less!”
Bold statements, to be sure, but the initial figures do seem to back Templin’s claims. The new ES 350 is an inch longer than the car it replaces, with 1.8 inches of length added between the wheels. This accounts for 4.1 inches more legroom for rear seat passengers.
2012 New York Cab Confessions: Wildly Different Views of New York’s New Taxi
As you’ve already read in our Wide Open Throttle coverage of the New York Auto show, the NV200 Taxi is Nissan’s bold attempt to dive headlong into one of the largest taxi markets in world, New York City.
They call it the “Taxi of Tomorrow” and since I was curious about the response to this admittedly controversial redesign of one Gotham’s most iconic features, I sent an email query to a colleague and native New Yorker, Peter Valdes-Dapena, who is a producer for CNNMoney.com. He was kind enough to reply with these thoughts:
“It’s kind of scary to realize that today’s New York taxis were never crash-tested while equipped as cabs. We should be happy about that alone. Plus, these new cabs won’t smell (as much), they’ll be roomier and comfortable and it’ll be easier to talk to the driver. Plus, they’ll have “low annoyance” horns, although I’m guessing that’ll just make drivers feel like they can use them more,” came Valdes-Dapena’s reply.
“The biggest complaint from New Yorkers — who must complain — will be the design. It looks like it should carry plumbing supplies, not people, “ he continued. “It’s a pretty radical departure from our traditional image of a cab.”
Radical indeed, but that the safety improvements were front of mind for Peter caught me off guard – and seemed a particularly juicy angle. So I gave David Reuter, Nissan’s Vice President of Corporate Communications, a chance to reply.
Should Bentley Build the EXP 9 F Concept?
In the quiet interview room at the back of Bentley’s Geneva Show stand, Bentley chairman Wolfgang Durheimer shrugs off the firestorm of criticism swirling around the styling of the EXP 9 F concept, the proposal for a Bentley SUV that’s spinning slowly on a turntable not 100 feet from where we’re sitting. “I think we made a statement,” he says without a trace of irony. “Not everybody likes it, which I think is good. The car is polarizing, especially at the front, but I do not want a Bentley to just be one among many.”
Bentley Chairman Wolfgang Durheimer
Durheimer’s calm, confident and coolly logical demeanor made him one of Porsche’s very best R&D chiefs; a stint that ended with his promotion to Bentley and Bugatti boss in late 2010. The difference is he’s now a battle-hardened veteran of the automotive culture wars as well. “Ten years ago they beat us up badly here at Geneva over the styling of the first Cayenne,” he recalls. “Everyone said we were crazy and we had better stick with sports cars.” What he doesn’t say – what he doesn’t need to say – is that the Cayenne went on to become a global hit that provided the cash-flow stability Porsche needed to develop the new 911 and Boxster.
And that, in a nutshell, is why Durheimer now wants to build a Bentley SUV. “The Continental and the Mulsanne have quite similar life cycles; they are about six months apart, so they go up and down together,” he says. “Every time the market sneezes, Crewe gets a cold immediately. For this reason the SUV would be positioned exactly in the downswing of the other two model lines to give us more stability in terms of production, and a constant work flow in terms of R&D.” Not to mention a more constant cash flow.
2012 Geneva: Alliances, Capacity, a Range Rover Convertible, and a Bentley SUV
GENEVA – It has come to this. Bentley is going to build a sport/utility vehicle and Range Rover is going to build a convertible. The takeaway from the 2012 Geneva motor show is that the world’s great automakers still can’t discipline themselves to sticking with what they know.
We could extend that criticism to BMW, which is getting into the kind of small, front-wheel-drive cars that its Mini division was meant to handle, and even Mercedes-Benz, which is extending its line of small, front-drive variants. Yes, Mercedes has been in this space for more than 15 years, but it’s expanding from two, the A- and B-Class, to five, including the CLC-Class.
Strategic alliances aside, Europe seems to be lagging behind the American industry in correcting this kind of cross-pollination. While the European Union deals with a financial crisis that’s on the brink of becoming as serious as ours from 2008 and ’09, General Motors, Ford and Chrysler are getting healthy in the aftermath of two bankruptcies and one very serious reorganization.
North America’s automotive production capacity is down from a peak of 23 million in the ‘00’s to a more manageable number, though analysts don’t seem to have any idea of what that current number is. Let’s just agree that it’s a more manageable level of over-capacity. Europe’s over-capacity is especially high as the EU financial crisis is killing demand for new automobiles.
Shedding brands at GM and Ford have helped. No more Pontiac, Saturn, Saab, Hummer or Mercury. Ford has sold off its European luxury brands and most its interest in Mazda. Today, GM is showing some discipline in the way it manages Buick, GMC and Cadillac, though there’s much room for improvement. It’s trying to move Opel/Vauxhall back up where it was through the ‘70s, while making Chevrolet a global brand.
2012 Geneva: Mercedes CLC, A-Class, to Lead New FWD Small-Car Strategy in U.S.
GENEVA – Mercedes-Benz’s small-car strategy in the U.S. has become clear with the global introduction of the new A-Class four-door hatchback and through interviews with company executives. The Mercedes-Benz A-Class hatchback unveiled here at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show, ready to go on sale in Europe, is about two years away from U.S. import.
Even though Mercedes premiered a two-door hatchback concept version of the latest A-Class at last year’s New York International Auto Show, the company isn’t going for a direct BMW Mini competitor in the States quite yet. Execs know we’re averse to premium hatchbacks unless they have the Mini mystique.
The first U.S. Mercedes on its new front-wheel-drive platform will be the long-rumored “four-door coupe,” a smaller sibling to the rear-drive CLS, tentatively called CLC. The CLC, as we’ll call it for now, will make its debut in the U.S. before the end of 2012, probably at the Los Angeles auto show this fall. Mercedes has reserved next month’s New York show for its updated GL-Class.
The CLC-Class and the A-Class are two of five new models off the new architecture, which ditches the old A-Class under-floor engine for a conventional, transverse unit. The engine family consists of 1.6- and 2.0-liter turbocharged gasoline fours. Mercedes’ new Camtronic valve lift system debuts on the 1.6, which will come in two versions, rated 115 and 156 horsepower in Europe. An AMG-tuned 2.0 turbo in the A250 is rated 211 horsepower.
Diesels are rated 109 to 170 horsepower, the latter from the same 2.2-liter unit available in the European-market E-Class. Mercedes is looking to add that engine to the E-Class’ U.S. lineup during the car’s current lifecycle.
European A-Class models come with a six-speed manual or 7G-DCT dual-clutch automatic. The automaker still has to decide whether to offer a manual in the U.S., says Mercedes research & development chief, Thomas Weber.
Notes from the Windy City – 2012 Edition
CHICAGO – Try as hard as the Midwest Automotive Media Association does, the 2012 Chicago Auto Show can’t rise to the status of the shows in Detroit, Los Angeles or even New York. It’s mostly a consumer-friendly show, with the nation’s largest public day attendance, and capacious halls able to handle large crowds. For the press, it’s a show full of new model variants, mid-cycle refreshes … that sort of thing. Press complain Chicago doesn’t offer enough news.
2013 Hyundai Elantra GT
I find it a nice respite between the tightly scheduled Detroit and Geneva shows. You don’t have to sprint between automakers’ press conferences, which this year finished by 2 p.m. on the first day. You have time to speak with execs and engineers and designers, for the back story on new models or even the occasional news item. It gives us time to see cars and trucks we didn’t get to examine in Los Angeles or Detroit, although some cars are left behind. Sadly, Lincoln didn’t bring its MKZ concept to Chicago. I’m still scratching my head about Ford’s decision to unveil the Fusion and Lincoln MKZ concept at the same show.
Anyway, this year’s 2012 Chicago show has a few notable debuts.
Hyundai’s 2013 Elantra Coupe and Elantra GT stand out as the most notable new cars here, because the coupe shows off some new sheetmetal. It’s clear Hyundai studied the Honda Civic coupe closely, though probably more the 2006-11 model than the 2012. The Hyundai looks like what the ’12 Civic coupe would have been before Honda took a good deal of cost out of its car.
Hyundai says the Elantra Coupe won’t just look sporty; it’ll be sportier than the sedan, with retuned steering and suspension. We’ll see. Chassis tuning remains Hyundai’s Achilles heel, so we’ll have to wait for a first drive sometime before it goes on sale this spring to judge the progress of Hyundai’s chassis engineers.
2012 Detroit: Our Highs and Lows from Detroit’s Big Show
Every year the Motor Trend team rolls into the Detroit auto show already knowing a lot about the show’s big reveals so we can bring you the first photos and information as it breaks. But staring at over-photoshopped studio shoots and poring over preliminary specs can only go so far to give you a true perspective on a car’s real-world presence.
After two days of hoofing it around Cobo Arena at the 2012 Detroit auto show and seeing the gleaming sheetmetal live in 3-D, we’ve adjusted our focus and formed our opinions – both positive and negative – on the Detroit show’s star cars.
This year’s Motor Trend strike force was our biggest ever, with 12 editors (as well as two photographers and a video producer), from grizzled veterans like our own Motor City Blogman Todd Lassa and technical director Frank Markus, to wide-eyed Detroit show newbies Jason Udy and Christian Seabaugh, and of course, our newly minted big-cheese-in-chief, Edward Loh. All of us had a long hard look at the show’s world debuts between banging out words and photos for folks like you.
So here’s our take on the best of Detroit, as well as a few cars that didn’t exactly win us over for one reason or another. As always, we’re reserving final judgment until we drive, test, and compare them from behind the wheel, but for now, here are our observations direct from Cobo.
