The Hybrid and Electric Cars Steal the Show at Detroit
The Detroit auto show looked the same this year - only very different. Usually, it's the main manufacturers, the Big Three, and majors from Asia and Europe who get to display in the main convention area. The little guys from China and India, and the novel concepts remain content with dwelling in the basement. But the auto industry isn't what it used to be; GM is a shadow of its former self, many of its major brands shut down or in the process. The high-end European manufacturers are lying low this time around too. And that opened the main display area to the basement dwellers - the Asian electric cars and Chinese hybrids. It's like the Detroit auto show had a reincarnation, and was born in Asia. Whatever it was, this year's show had a more upbeat American presence than last year. That one was certainly a show to forget - what with bankruptcies and government takeover rumors all around.
This year's auto show in Detroit was much more hopeful; everyone was convinced that things could only go one way now. Still, years of poor sales and the jolt of last year's bankruptcies, have cleared the air for Detroit. The American auto industry is now all about responsible investments in the future; not about protecting the status quo and keeping old auto technology. The future for Detroit is all about electric cars. The largest display at the auto show was the Electric Avenue, a mega display of electric cars and hybrids. Actually, these are scary times for the auto industry as a whole. Electric cars don't sell at all in America, and hybrids are a costly sideshow. Every stakeholder in the American auto industry, the government and the shareholders, depends on what everyone actually buys - nearly every last car sold in America, is the regular internal combustion gasoline car.
As much as they need to protect their interests today, there may not be much of a future, if there isn't massive investment in electric cars, the transportation of the future. The automakers just need to get regular people interested in the idea of a new car again. And then of course, there is the fact that the internal combustion engine may really not cut it in five years. The government brings on very strict new fuel efficiency standards then. The automakers just want to get some mileage out of the responsible behavior they're being forced into by the government, and pretend that they are just "investing in the future".
The Audi E-Tron was easily the most glamorous car there. But the green cars from Hyundai, Toyota and (would you believe it) Cadillac, really stole the show. The Cadillac XTS is a plug-in hybrid system (it is surprising to see electric cars from Cadillac), the Hyundai Blue-Will is a plug-in hybrid too, and features lithium polymer batteries, with a range-extending backup engine. And the Prius appeared in a plug-in version also.
The environmentally responsible Cadillac really was the bolt from the blue of the show though. How the times change.