As the first major international auto show of the 2011 calendar year, the North America International Auto Show sees no shortage of manufacturers all looking to break in the new year with a bang.
Some make a tremendous impression on all of us, whereas others just fade into obscurity as soon as the show ends. The challenge for these automakers is to make sure that they bring out products, whether its of production material or it’s a concept that will stand out from the rest.
All the happenings of the Detroit Auto Show took at the Cobb Center in Detroit a few weeks ago so we felt it was an opportune time to provide a heads-up of what vehicles served notice at the event.
This recap will cover all the cars that were officially unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show. Check out the list and let us know which of these new toys on the block you’d want to be taking home to with you.
Check out the list after the jump.
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When it comes to supercars, America is fairly well-represented against its European contemporaries with the SSC Ultimate Aero and the Saleen S7. But even if the Land of the Free has some noteworthy machines on its side, the other side of the pond has more options to choose from, including the high-and-mighty Bugatti Veyron.
In an attempt to bolster the American supercar line-up, Mach7 Motorsports, led by its founders, Jeff and Carl Lemke, recently introduced the Falcon supercar at the 2011 Detroit Motor Show. Despite being a pre-production car, all signs are pointing to the Mach77 Falcon being ready for production in the future, at least until after finishing touches and performance tests are done on it.
In any case, Mach7 is looking into building 15 Falcon models every year with seven being built at a time and in six-month intervals. When it becomes ready to be sent off to dealerships, early estimates indicate that the Falcon will be priced at around $200,000, a far cheaper alternative than its American supercar brethren, the Saleen S7 and the SSC Ultimate Aero.
Details on the Mach7 Motorsports Falcon after the jump.
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Chrysler has officially lifted the covers off of the 2011 Jeep Compass, giving the brand a nice little sidekick to their highly-touted flagship model, the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee.
Combining an improved aesthetic design with a surprisingly efficient drivetrain – 23 mpg on the city and 29 mpg on the highway in all-wheel drive – and an affordable price tag, the 2011 Compass is looking more and more like a worthy contender in the compact SUV market.
“With the new 2011 Jeep Compass, we’ve applied the premium design cues of our award-winning new Grand Cherokee,” said Mike Manley, President and CEO - Jeep Brand, Chrysler Group LLC. “Combined with new interior appointments, and refinements to the suspension and steering systems, Jeep Compass provides consumers the ultimate combination of styling, capability, fuel economy, efficiency, safety and value in the important compact-SUV segment.”
The 2011 Compass is going to be built at Jeep’s Belvidere Assembly Plant in Belvidere, Illinois. The vehicle is expected to arrive in Jeep showrooms across America in the coming weeks.
UPDATE 03/07/2011: Check out our review of the 2011 Jeep Compass by clicking here!
Details on the 2011 Jeep Compass after the jump.
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Johnson Controls may not be a name that’s familiar to a lot of you, but their products almost always end up staring us right in the face at times when we don’t even realize it.
As a supplier of interior technology, Johnson Controls holds a certain cache that not of us even realize. That’s why it was especially cool to see the company attend the Detroit Auto Show with a hollow shell of a Kia Soul with all their goodies dressed up in the interior.
Called the ie:3 Concept, the vehicle consists of Johnson Controls’ latest technological features that are designed to have three main benefits: delighting buyers, giving automakers an opportunity to be different from each other, and improving their own sustainability.
Among the features found on the ie:3 – ‘IE’ stands for Inspired Efficiency – include single-piece stamped seats that are ergonomically designed to save space. The company also has features new FaserTac seat pads made from natural fibers.
That’s only the beginning, too.
Hit the jump for more details on the Kia Soul ie:3 Concept.
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It’s got style, it’s got grace, and no, we’re not just reciting lyrics to Madonna’s Vogue. We’re describing the beautiful and powerful BMW 7-Series. A vehicle that, despite its prestige and price tag, was left alone to get stolen outside of a hotel during the Detroit Auto Show.
BMW brought 19 units of the $90,000 vehicle with them to this year’s auto show so the company’s top executives could all hitch a ride in one during the show. After the 7-Series’ job was done, the cars were loaded into a car carrier for transport back to their New Jersey home. The only problem is that only eighteen arrived.
Police say a hotel valet brought the BMW out of the garage and handed it over to the transporter. After that, the handler stepped away for a second and that’s when witnesses say two car thieves seized the opportunity to jump in and ride off. The stolen vehicle is dark gray and has New Jersey plates, but don’t go rushing the search party just yet. The vehicle is equipped with BMW Assist so the two carjackers should be caught within a reasonable time-frame. Bet they didn’t think of that, huh?
UPDATE 01/15/11: The BMW 750i xDrive luxury sedan that was improbably stolen at the Detroit Auto Show has been found, ending a few days worth of embarrassment for the German manufacturer. The car, which was left unattended a few days ago and was subsequently boosted, was found near Telegraph and Glendale Street in Detroit’s West Side. Apparently, the tracking system inside the BMW was cut and disabled, but it’s highly probable that because of the wide media attention brought about by the dastardly thievery, the criminals might have decided that the car wasn’t worth it anymore. All’s well that ends well, right? Yeah, try telling that to BMW.
Thanks to a design that features an elegant yet sporty proportions featuring a long engine hood, a low, sweeping roofline and prominent lines on the flanks that create an overall dynamic appearance, the new Audi A6 was awarded with the 2011 EyesOn Design title at the 2011 Detroit Auto Show.
It’s the fourth time in the past three years – a remarkable achievement in every sense of the word – that Audi has scooped up an EyesOn Design award for one of their vehicles.
For this year, the new A6 was recognized with the “Best Production Vehicle” design displayed at the event, further strengthening Audi’s increasing position as one of the world’s best in automotive design.
In accepting the EyesOn Design trophy, Achim Badstuebner, head of exterior design for AUDI AG, was pleased with the reception the A6 received from the panel of judges. “This is strong feedback that we have done our homework," he said.
Over the past few years, Audi has scooped up EyesOn Design awards at an impressive rate. Back in 2009, Audi bagged two awards for “Best Production Car Design” with the Audi R8 V10 and “Best Concept Vehicle” for the Audi Sportback Concept, the same concept that later became the inspiration for the A7 Sportback. A year later at the 2010 NAIAs, Audi picked up from where they left off by winning another “Best Production Car Design” title with the Audi A8 luxury sedan.
Make that four in three years for Audi with the new A6. From the looks of things, it’s going to take a lot more from its competitors to take the mantle off of Audi in the near future.
Press Release after the jump
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The 2011 Detroit Auto Show may be dominated by fancy concepts or soon-to-be-released cars, but there’s also room at Cobo Hall for some fancy works of art. One such artwork that was prominently displayed at the auto show was the Mercedes-Benz Aesthetics No. 2 sculpture by Mercedes.
Created by Mercedes designers to show the art and aesthetic language that goes on in the development of interior designs and carbon ergonomics, the Aesthetics No.2 sculpture is the proud culmination of a project that aims to look at what the future holds for the interior space of Mercedes vehicles.
Measuring 5.6m x 1.83m x 2.6m scaled 1.5:1, the sculpture was touched up with an ‘Alubeam Liquid Metal’ paint finish to simulate the unobtrusive, free-flowing design of the sculpture.
Mercedes designers, in looking onward to the aesthetic design language of the future, came up with the Aesthetics No.2 sculpture to show the boundless opportunities that lies in environmental design, one that’s grounded on nature’s diversity and the “all-encompassing interplay of her elements”. The design of the interior sculpture is just a peek of the possibilities that lie ahead for the company. From what the Aesthetics No.2 Sculpture has shown us, it looks like the German automaker already has a fair grasp of what the design process of their future models will look like.
Mercedes-Benz set the stage at the 2011 Detroit Auto Show with an announcement that the SLS AMG E-Cell will be put into production as part of the company’s "AMG Performance 2015." This company strategy aims to continually reduce fuel consumption and emissions.
"We take social responsibility very seriously and with the SLS AMG E-CELL we are demonstrating a further milestone in our "AMG Performance 2015" strategy. It is our goal to continually reduce the fuel consumption and emissions of new models in the coming years, while at the same time enhancing the core brand value of performance", explains Ola Källenius, chairman of the board of Mercedes-AMG GmbH.
With a total output of 525 HP and a sprint from 0 to 60 mph in 4.0 seconds, the SLS AMG E-Cell will be one of the faster electric sports car on the market.
Hit the jump to read more about the 2015 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG E-Cell.
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In addition to the Honda Civic SI Concept, Honda also brought the new Civic Concept Sedan to the Detroit Auto Show. Together with the SI Concept, the two new Civic models give us a good idea on what the latest generation of Honda’s legendary Civic line is going to look like.
As for the Civic Concept Sedan, Honda designed the car using clean and powerful lines and overall pronounced character lines in the front while having lower character lines towards the rear fender, enhancing the car’s dynamic outlook of vibrancy and forward energy.
Similar to the Si Concept, the Civic Concept Sedan also features a front fender surface treatment that forms a complex, three-dimensional look, further enhancing the sedan’s depth and sophistication.
Moreover, the Civic Concept Sedan features a completely new front grille that’s defined by crisp lines and a solid bar that integrates a chrome Honda emblem to go along with a set of 19” machined alloy wheels.
Apart from the Sedan and Si models, the ninth generation Honda Civic line-up will include a sedan, a coupe with conventional gasoline models, and two sporty "Si" performance versions, along with one hybrid and a natural gas alternative-fuel variant.
According to John Mendel, executive vice president of sales for American Honda, the new and redesigned Civic is going to be the best one yet. “The Civic is known for providing a balance of ’just-right’ packaging, fun-to-drive character and outstanding fuel economy, at a price that even first-time buyers can afford," he said.
In every auto show, you’re bound to come across a concept project being displayed in hopes of finding a financier to move the project further along than its pipe dream status. At the 2011 Detroit Auto Show, we finally saw that car. It’s called the Wikispeed SGT01, a racing prototype that was displayed at Cobb Hall in body/chassis/interior/suspension form. The car didn’t have a powertrain on it so we can easily figure out just how far the project needs to go to become production ready.
The SGT01 was originally developed for the Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize competition and has since taken shape, albeit in small, baby steps. The company’s founder, Joe Justice, is looking into building the SGT01 as a turn-key automobile, but lacks the necessary funding to do so. From what we’ve heard, the company’s looking for an investor or, at the very least, obtain a loan of about $750,000 to get the project up and running.
Whether the company finds that person is still up in the air, though. So for now, they’ve settled on previewing a body prototype of what the SG01 could look like with the hopes of at least getting enough attention to attract a kind soul that can fund the project.
Details on the Wikispeed SGT01 after the jump.
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