I'm back from two tiring days at the Detroit Auto Show -- how can walking around looking at cars be so exhausting? -- and I'll be writing up some comments on it once I get all the deadlines out of the way.
General quick impressions? Much lower-key, of course, especially with the Big Three, who had to walk a very fine line between looking robust and healthy, but not too well-off, lest people ask why they seek government funding. Huge spaces due to Nissan, Suzuki, Rolls-Royce, Ferrari and Land Rover bowing out, and Mitsubishi's display just a group of cars sponsored by dealers, which were partially filled with displays normally found downstairs, a ridiculously overpriced food vendor, and even just sofas and chairs where necessary. And for some reason, there was an overpowering stench of rotting garbage in one corner of the building, primarily near Volkswagen, whom I'm sure had equally powerful words with the Cobo Hall folks because of it.
Fuel economy is everything, far outstripping the importance previously given to styling, and then to safety. Electric cars had mainstream displays.
And perhaps most telling, the Chinese auto companies moved their booths from downstairs, where they were last year, to the main floor upstairs. I don't expect they'll ever move back down to the basement again.
