We wrapped up our coverage of the 2009 Detroit auto show this week, and found that the auto industry is looking as vibrant as ever, despite all of the bad economic news. There were quite a few new models launched at the show, and we want to hear which you liked best.
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Audi R8 5.2 FSI Quattro |
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BMW Z4 |
Lexus HS 250h |
Buick LaCrosse |
Mercedes-Benz McLaren SLR Stirling Moss |
Ford Taurus |
Scion xB Release Series 6.0 |
Honda Insight |
Toyota Prius |
With the Sportback concept, Audi offers a glimpse of the 2010 A7 sedan while signaling its intent to take hatchbacks beyond the compact category.
The five-door concept, unveiled Sunday at the Detroit auto show, is a preview of the A7, a coupe-styled sedan that will go on sale in late 2009 or early 2010.
The Sportback is intended to test reaction to the A7's styling. The concept takes its architecture and many suspension components from the A4/A5 model series. It also uses the 3.0-liter V-6 clean diesel engine that powers the Audi Q7 3.0 TDI, which goes on sale this month in all 50 states.
The concept is 16.2 feet long, 6.3 feet wide and 4.6 feet high. It is by far the largest member of Audi's expanding Sportback lineup.
Audi introduced the Sportback in 2004 in the A3 compact car. An even smaller A1 Sportback goes on sale in Europe late this year and eventually could be sold in the United States.
(Source: Automotive News)
(Credit:
Mercedes-Benz)
Alpine announced partnerships with GM, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz. The maker of car audio equipment will be supplying technology to the three OEMs in three very different ways.
Starting with the most robust system, Alpine Electronics of America announced it is supplying head units to a global Mercedes-Benz program. Alpine head units are now available as standard, midlevel and premium equipment on the Mercedes-Benz SLK, SL, E-Class, CLS, A-Class, B-Class, M-Class, R-Class, GL, and G-Class vehicles in North America, Europe, Japan, China, Russia, Southeast Asia, Middle East, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.
The premium system, on display at the 2009 Detroit auto show, includes a 40GB hard drive with space dedicated exclusively for music storage. Users can download thousands of their favorite MP3 tunes from an SD card reader or play media from a connected iPod or the six-disc DVD changer. Gracenote music tagging to capture artist, album, and song information of ripped audio. HD Radio capability keeps high quality music coming when your collection runs dry.
Convenience features include real time traffic information provided by Sirius Satellite Radio, Zagat restaurant guide. Voice recognition for system control and Bluetooth for hands-free telephone connectivity keep hands on the wheel, while text-to-speech (unfortunately, not available in the U.S.) keeps eyes on the road.
For General Motors, Alpine will supply a premium infotainment unit on the all-new 2010 Buick LaCrosse, 2010 Chevrolet Equinox, and 2010 Cadillac SRX. The unit will feature 2GB of onboard flash memory for music storage, as well as USB 2.0 for iPod and flash memory connectivity. Rounding out the audiovisual sources are a single DVD/CD player for both movies and audio and AM/FM/XM satellite radio tuner. A time-shift audio feature will allow listeners to pause, rewind, and replay up to one hour of XM Radio or AM/FM programming.
The system will integrate with GM's OnStar turn-by-turn voice-guided navigation and support rear-seat entertainment for DVD and audio output. A neat feature is the system's capability to play simultaneously two digital media audio files, so driver and back seat passengers can listen to different songs at the same time.
(Credit:
BMW of America)
Alpine's partnership with BMW resulted in the massive center information display on the all-new 2009 BMW Z4 Roadster. Alpine's motorized clamshell-style display opens from the center stack and closes for a sleek look when not in use. The 1,280x480-pixel resolution 8.8-inch double VGA display is one of the largest center stack displays on the market. According to BMW and Alpine, this display helps improve at-a-glance recognition and reduces eyestrain when viewing the navigation maps and back-up camera.
Henrik Fisker shows off the convertible Karma S hybrid.
(Credit: Sarah Tew/CBS Interactive)Fisker, which showed off a concept hybrid sports car last year, came back to the Detroit auto show this year to show off a new concept along with the production version of its Karma model. The production Karma doesn't look much different from the concept we saw--it's a sedan with a curvy, grand tourer-style body. The new concept shown off by Fisker, called the Karma S, is a two-door coupe with a retractable hard top, using the same power train as the Karma.
The Fisker power train is similar to GM's Voltec and Chrysler's ENVI, a series hybrid architecture using electric motors to drive the wheels, a battery pack to store electricity, and a gas engine to generate more electricity, as needed. Fisker puts two 201 horsepower electric motors at each rear wheel, which get power from a lithium ion battery pack with enough capacity to drive the car for 50 miles. When more range is needed, a Ford-sourced turbocharged 2-liter direct injection EcoTec kicks in, turning a generator, giving the car 250 more miles.
The production Karma hybrid uses eco materials in the cabin.
(Credit: Fisker)The Fisker cars look stunning, with a design that could have come from Pininfarina, but their performance won't be quite up to supercar standards. Specs for the production Karma say it will go to 60 mph in 5.8 seconds--fast, but not blistering--while the top speed reaches 125 mph when both the electric motors and gas engine are working.
The starting price for the production Karma is $87,900, and Fisker has already taken 1,000 preorders. The company will begin delivering cars this year.
(Credit:
Sarah Tew/CBS Interactive)
We saw several electric car concepts at the Detroit auto show, but there were also a set of more traditional concepts with internal combustion engines on the automaker's specification lists. These cars show off the sorts of designs the car companies are looking at for future production models. Volkswagen and Audi push the diesel agenda with new entrants, while Volvo and Subaru show off the future direction of specific models. Lincoln tries out a new take on luxury, while Kia gets playful with its new Soul platform.
Toyota gives the third generation Prius a face-lift that even Joan Rivers would find daunting. This new model features larger dimensions, more fuel economy, and a few new safety and efficiency tricks, but did they get it right?
Brian Cooley checks out the new Hyundai Genesis Sedan and Coupe, two very different vehicles under the same nameplate, at the 2009 Detroit auto show.
Scion rolls out a limited edition xB for the Detroit auto show.
(Credit: Sarah Tew/CBS Interactive)With its limited number of models, a new car from Scion is a rare thing, so the company filled the information gap at the Detroit auto show with a special trim level for the xB. Dubbed Release Series (or RS) 6.0, this xB comes in a unique shade of red covering every exterior body panel and component, except the grille, which gets its own special black treatment. As with the standard model, the xB RS 6.0 is powered by an economical 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine.
This Pioneer head unit handles navigation, hands-free calling, and media playback.
(Credit: Sarah Tew/CBS Interactive)The interior sees more custom treatment, with colored lights designed to match the look of the car, illuminated door sill panels that read RS 6.0, and special seat fabric. The xB RS 6.0 gets a Pioneer AVN GPS head unit standard, which has support for video, iPod, USB, and SD cards. This AVN has voice command and Bluetooth built-in. Extra modules from Pioneer can be fitted to add HD-Radio and satellite radio.
Scion is only building 2,500 of the xB RS 6.0 vehicles, and each will have a unique number plate. Trying to sell an xB as a collector's item is a little questionable, but the car still represents an excellent value, with the RS 6.0 costing only $1,743 over the base xB, which is about the cost of the head unit alone.
(Credit:
Sarah Tew/CBS Interactive)
The green momentum in the automotive industry is undeniable, with every automaker developing towards the electrification of the car. A surprising number of electric concepts were on display at the 2009 Detroit auto show, including cars from GM, Chrysler, Mercedes-Benz, Mini, and Smart. Some of these concepts are far-flung, but some are currently on the road, being tested for eventual mass production.
See the new breed of electric cars from the 2009 Detroit Auto Show.
Updated at 1:35 p.m. PT with corrected information on the supply arrangement and additional details.
Tesla Motors has signed a deal to supply power train components to Daimler for an electric version of the German auto giant's Smart mini-car, called the Electric Smart EV, which is expected to be available within two years.
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, announced the deal at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit on Tuesday. On Sunday, Tesla unveiled a higher-end Sport version of its Tesla Roadster electric sports car.
Tesla will supply the battery pack and on-board charger for 1,000 Electric Smart EVs, a company representative said on Tuesday. Musk told told The Detroit Free Press that Tesla has been working on the deal for about a year and a half.
Tesla showed off the power train and battery pack of the Tesla Roadster at the North American International Auto Show this week.
(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET Networks)"If the 1,000 vehicle fleet makes sense and the economics are compelling, that will expand to tens of thousands of vehicles per year," Musk was quoted saying. Daimler "sees the electric Smart as being a large percentage of EV (electric vehicle) sales."
Tesla is ramping up production of its first car, the Roadster, while looking to earn money through its power train business. Daimler is its first auto manufacturer customer.
A deal between Tesla and Daimler had been rumored for months.
In August, Financial Times Germany reported that the supply agreement was for electric Smart cars planned for a pilot to test lithium-ion battery Smart cars and a network of charging stations in Berlin, Germany.
