2010 Detroit Auto Show Winners and Losers: Concept Cars
While there may have been fewer production-ready new models at this year’s Detroit auto show, a fair number of concept cars appeared under the lights at the Cobo Center. Over the past few years, automakers have shied away from showing concept cars as they’ve chased down consumers with as many real products as possible. It seems they’ve run out of new products, though, and are relying on no-promises concepts to wow show-goers. Here are the ones we think might actually wow.
Cadillac XTS Platinum
Joe Wiesenfelder: Winner
I don’t think photos do it justice. It’s clearly a Cadillac, but it’s more mature and probably has broader appeal, stylistically, than the CTS. The gorgeous interior is partly about the materials, but the design alone would transfer well to a real production car. Find an auto show; see it yourself. Kelsey Mays: Loser
From certain angles the XTS intrigues, but the rear doesn’t light my fire. If this is a luxury flagship, part of me still wants to see a V-8 engine and rear-wheel drive, not all-wheel drive and a V-6-backed hybrid powertrain. Efficiency is good — these days necessary, arguably — but a luxury flagship needs to perform, and the XTS doesn’t have the makings of that. Cadillac, prove me wrong.
Mike Hanley: Loser
The XTS doesn’t have the edgy design that I think Cadillac finally mastered with the current CTS sport sedan, which is disappointing. The front end offers an intriguing glimpse of the future of Cadillac design, but like Kelsey, I couldn’t find much to love about its tail-end styling and its too-long overhang.
David Thomas: Winner
I don’t think buyers will note a strong V-6 under the hood versus a V-8, considering the V-6 in the smaller CTS puts out more than Northstars of the recent past. Powertrain won’t matter anyway because this thing is a looker. Even if you don’t like the style personally, you have to agree that this will draw stares from the boomer set who don’t want to drop the dough on a more expensive Audi or BMW flagship.
Mini Beachcomber
JW: Winner
The rest of the world will get the Mini crossover before we in the U.S. do, which is a bummer, but the Beachcomber is actually a good teaser for the model and a good concept in the classic auto show sense. I’ll allow that I might be under Mini’s cheeky spell — or the effects of being in Michigan in January. A beach seems like a pretty good idea.
KM: Loser
I just spent a week at the beach over the holidays, so maybe I’m not so spellbound. The Beachcomber holds promise, but the concept’s cutesy elements — from the faux spare tire holder to attachable interior accessories like a plastic palm tree — spell softie. If the basic structure is what we’ll see in production form, as I was told by the car’s chief interior designer, the car’s overall utility looks to be limited.
MH: Winner
Even if the forthcoming Mini crossover’s utility isn’t the best around, I don’t see that being a deal-breaker for buyers. It’s a Mini, after all. The production version of the Beachcomber is going to generate a ton of interest among premium crossover buyers, but some of the Mini faithful will probably be offended by a Mini SUV.
DT: Winner
A Mini with all-wheel drive and standard Mini looks will sell faster than handwarmers outside Soldier Field in December — specifically in northern cities just like Chicago, where people want something efficient with all-wheel drive, not necessarily a vehicle that can fit furniture.
Chrysler Delta
JW: Winner
Concepts are for gauging interest, and for a company in Chrysler’s predicament, rebadging a car isn’t the worst thing they could do. Compared with renaming most of its trim levels, which it did before the show opened, this move was perfectly logical.
KM: Loser
The Delta, a rebadged car from Fiat subsidiary Lancia, is at best still a few years out. The car doesn’t appear to be a slam-dunk; reviews from the other side of the pond say it’s big on utility and cabin appeal, but it handles a bit sloppy. This is better than Chrysler’s trim-level rehash, to be sure, but I need to see more.
MH: Loser
Typically, nothing good ever comes from rebadging a car, and Chrysler would have been better off leaving this car in storage. It’s not the most appealing design, and it doesn’t do anything to increase the appeal of the Chrysler stand. The Maserati GranTurismo convertible, on the other hand …
DT: Loser
I actually agree with everything Joe said. This was the right move for Chrysler and shows how easily a Fiat model sold overseas could easily translate to Chrysler showrooms in the U.S. However, just looking at the car it reminds me of the last Chrysler union with a foreign automaker where the overseas overlords thought Americans were ready to pay a premium for European style in a product not designed for Americans. That’s not a good sign for the future of Chrysler.
GMC Granite
JW: Loser
This one leaves me flat. The Granite isn’t practical enough to represent a production model, and not cool enough to captivate as a concept.
KM: Winner
Jeep punched serious holes in its off-road heritage with the carlike Compass crossover. Should the Granite make production, it may not even offer all-wheel drive — a requisite feature for anything trucklike — so there’s potential GMC could be heading astray here. But there’s equal chance it could bring a new generation into the brand. A production version could add a beefier presence to the Cube/xB/Soul crowd, too.
MH: Winner
I agree with Kelsey that the Granite seems to dilute GMC’s rugged image, but I like the design of the concept nonetheless. The thing is, boxy cars are all the rage now; if something like this makes it to production a few years from now, times may be different.
DT: Winner
This was probably my favorite concept at the show because even though it is un-GMC in so many ways, it is the coolest-looking vehicle of its type. The odd-ugly design theory of the Scion, xB, Nissan Cube and Kia Soul are confronted head on with this bad boy, and for me I’d want the bad boy. It also makes a lot of sense for a brand that might have trouble bringing in first-time buyers.
Toyota FT-CH
JW: Winner
I’m as surprised as anyone that Toyota’s sole intro at this important show is a hybrid concept car that’s so far from reality that they give no details on the hybrid system and they won’t even open the doors. But I think the mere idea of a hybrid that’s smaller, more efficient and more affordable than the Prius is better than yet another real hybrid product that isn’t.
KM: Winner
Agreed. The FT-CH’s styling recalls the iQ concept from the 2009 New York auto show — and makes the iQ seem down-to-earth in comparison. But conceptually, a sub-Prius hybrid should do well.
MH: Winner
With it being a long way from reality, I was more focused on the FT-CH’s design than anything, and though it’s a bit blocky from the front, the overall hatchback design is one that could easily be morphed into a production car. As Joe has pointed out before, an automaker can say anything about what’s powering a concept without having to back it up. But that said, Toyota is saying the right things about this one.
DT: Loser
I didn’t like the design, odd headlight placement, the color or anything about this concept besides the wheels. Put those wheels on a Prius and we’ll talk.
Volkswagen New Compact Coupe
JW: Winner
Hybrids bring out my inner Spock: I want to know how efficient it is and how much it costs, because I think that’s what drives hybrid purchases. Most hybrid models fail on one front or the other. We don’t know what the VW concept would cost, but 45 mpg in combined city/highway driving beats every current hybrid but the Prius — and its styling appeals to my inner Kirk.
KM: Winner
Mine was more of a Next-Gen upbringing, and I’m not sure I have enough of an inner Picard to make any sort of tie-in. But the New Compact Coupe could fly in either galaxy (aha!) as it borrows the sharp styling from sister brand Audi’s A5 coupe. Even if the hybrid drivetrain doesn’t pan out, the New Compact Coupe could become a compelling alternative to any two-door Accord or Altima. Make it so, VW — make it so.
MH: Winner
Volkswagen could have said the New Compact Coupe was powered by a warp core and I probably would have still been onboard with this concept. It’s no USS Enterprise, but its elegant, graceful design is timeless.
DT: Loser
A few years ago VW started taking risks with their designs with big mouth grilles like Audi has and then the CC sedan, which has been a success for them. This seems like a step back and is about as conservative as a Sarah Palin segment on Fox News. Now some people like conservative, and some people like Fox News, but when I want to get excited about a car, especially a coupe, even the promise of high mileage and a stunning interior won’t get me past the looks. I’ll say it again: Bring the Scirocco to the U.S., VW … or else.
Audi e-tron
JW: Loser
I shouldn’t penalize a clean-diesel champion like Audi for experimenting with electric drivetrains, but there are already a lot of companies on the “me-too” bandwagon, and this second e-tron concept seems like a me-too on top of a me-too. I’m unmoved.
KM: Winner
Audi says it wants owners to call its products by name — i.e., “My car has Quattro,” not, “My car has all-wheel drive.” Someday the automaker hopes “e-tron,” for its eventual electric-car technology, will make its way into such vernacular. Toward that end, it makes a bit more sense that Audi is flooding the auto shows with e-tron concepts. This one looks sharp. At minimum, if its styling translates into the next TT, that will bode well for sports car enthusiasts.
MH: Winner
Audi’s branding goals aside, the fact that it showed two different concepts, both dubbed e-tron, within a short time frame of each other is only going to confuse people. That said, the automaker could have called this concept whatever it wanted and I would have still liked it. It’s a great-looking sports car.
DT: Winner
Call this TT or R4 or whatever you want, but this is the small sport coupe that Audi needs to be selling at the current TT’s price. Forget all the electronic guts. Audi has great gas engines as it is that would turn this into an impressive street machine.
Chevrolet Aveo RS
JW: Winner
The current Aveo has two main problems: styling and interior quality. Because it’s a show car, I wouldn’t want to draw any conclusions about the interior, but the Aveo RS’ styling makes a statement. If the new Aveo looks something like this, its appeal should grow.
KM: Winner
I can assure Joe the current Aveo has several more issues than just those two. Based on styling alone, the RS holds a lot of promise — and these days, it’s harder to go wrong with smaller, more efficient cars.
MH: Winner
The RS show car has a lot of road presence for a small hatchback, and from what we know, a lot of that will carry over to the production model. The bottom line is that it means there are good things to come for Chevy’s small hatch and sedan.
DT: Loser
Even if the interior is a step above what we’ve seen in hit products like the Equinox, I’m not sure anyone is going to pick this over the Fiesta from Ford if all things are equal — like fuel economy, performance, etc. It just has a frumpy look, even in RS show car wrappings.
Buick Regal GS
JW: Winner
Putting sporty elements on a car doesn’t always make it look sporty. Sometimes it just looks stupid. If you clear your mind of notions about what Buick represents and just look at the car, it’s pretty compelling. Same for the manual transmission; if you’re a stick-shift devotee, it doesn’t matter what car it’s in.
KM: Loser
Color me underwhelmed. Once upon a time, Buick built performance sleepers — headlined, doubtless, by the sub-five-second zero-to-60 GNX. Its current lineup is one of strong designs, upscale cabins and relative fuel efficiency … but not performance. All-wheel drive could push the Regal near 2 tons, and a 255-horsepower turbo four doesn’t have the makings of serious fun, stick shift or not.
MH: Loser
I like the way Buick is thinking with the GS, but I’m really not a fan of the show car’s front end, particularly its inset, vertical vents. They throw off the design of the most important angle of the car.
DT: Winner
This thing is wicked. Yes, put a Boston accent on the word if you like. I’m not a big fan of the new LaCrosse because it’s a bit blah. The Regal is sportier, and the GS is just cool, like an American sleeper should be. Don’t get me wrong, I think this brand is confused with their product planning, but if you’re going to sell the Regal anyway, you HAVE to sell the GS.
BMW Concept ActiveE
JW: Winner
The ActiveE is the opposite of the Audi e-tron. The Audi is a slick-looking show car that’s just a one-off experiment. To a show-goer, the ActiveE is a BMW 1 Series coupe with lots of decals on it, but it will be part of a pilot program to lease battery-electric cars in the U.S. I support anything that gets electrics on the road so we can see if they’re worth the hype.
KM: Winner
Ditto. This is the real deal, albeit in small batches. For a luxury carmaker, BMW is throwing a lot of darts at the green-car board — a hydrogen 7 Series, an electric 1 Series, multiple hybrids. The more the merrier, I say.
MH: Loser
I’ve driven the Mini E electric car and it’s quite a bit of fun, and I suspect this electric 1 Series will be, too. But I was only able to look at the ActiveE in BMW’s display area, and the familiar design didn’t draw me in.
DT: Loser
No one likes the 1 Series. Or at least they’re not buying them. If BMW wanted to get people excited about a small electric car, it needs to be a hatch or SUV like their upcoming X1 or the 1 Series hatch sold in Europe. I think electrics will catch on first with the affluent because of their limited range and heightened green cred, so BMW having one in this segment makes a lot of sense.
