It’s the week of the 2010 North American International Auto Show. The international media has already come and gone, after the unveiling of product smorgasbord over two days press reveals. The themes centered around a renewed commitment to a brighter, greener future.
For the public, the auto show buzz begins with tonight’s charity benefit, which is among the area’s largest fundraisers. Last year official numbers are at $2.6 million. At writing, local socialites are picking up their tuxes, gowns and spending today primping to make an impression. Then there are the parties like that of 944 Magazine Launch Party at the MGM Casino — a little glitz to add some flourish to the short, freezing January days.
After a week of car talk, here are a few initial impressions in the post- 21st century breakdown:
• Education has replaced entertainment for the auto show. Green innovation and technology aren’t intuitive. Tactile exhibits have replaced razzle dazzle with Electric Avenue and test tracks for green car demos. The Detroit Auto Show is becoming more like CES in Vegas. Perhaps they should consider a partnership with the Science Center to reinforce this commitment to futurism.
• Everything changes, but stays the same. The Detroit Auto Show began in 1907 and was organized the Detroit Auto Dealers Association. Many member continue to be active in the North American International Auto Show, officially renamed in 1989. Aligning with the another older organization the International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers, founded in 1919, was one step toward broadening the international scope of the show after foreign manufacturers began to show their cars over the years.
• The old and the new guard converge are converging. The old guard – rushing to press conference and sprinting to the newsroom has been all but replaced by a flurry of handheld devices, driven by the blogging economy, but the the technology gap is narrowing as people of all ages are becoming more savvy with their 3.0 skills.
• In light of the major losses of market share, the tone of executive speeches has shift from boastful to promising — but can they deliver in the new decade? The politicians were present and accounted for with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi bringing dozens, and the political undertones certainly were a reminder that the car business isn’t just about dollars and cents — its about the roads we take to the future.
It’s starts early — in fact the pre-paparazzi party started this evening for me as I popped in a few car-centric events, starting with Infiniti’s push of it’s new M in clubbed-out Comerica Park. It’s become somewhat of annual event with DJs, and ambient lighting.
The real deal kicks off in the morning — the North American International Auto Show opens it’s door at 6:30 with the usual January blustery temps. In a few short hours, politicians, publicists, and patrolling reporters will bunker down in Detroit, attempting to take it all in in less than 48 hours — the state of the car economy in 2010. House speaker Nancy Pelosi and Transportation Secretary Roy LaHood are on the bill. The razzle-dazzle of sparkly auto shows past is giving ways to tech-bling and environmental advances, whispered references to economic catastrophes, and a whole lot of political posturing.
We’ll be there, present and accounted for, clamoring to get a view, but also to soak it up and assess the difference between game-changing trends and unnecessary hype. Against all odds, (they said the auto show might evaporate last year) we’re back to Detroit. That’s how we do. The cars are already there. Now come the people.
Last fall, I sat on the meeting between Ford Flex interior designer Anthony Prozzi, Automobile Magazine Editor Jean Jennings, our in-house artist extraordinaire Lee Quinones at the scrumptious Il Bagatto located in the East Village. Prozzi was the super star of that meeting when restaurant regulars found out that he had worked on the Flex. Turns out an inner city law enforcement officer was quite proud of his brand new Flex – and he called it – the hot new ride on the streets. Seemingly, the Ford Flex has something for everybody, and the more road time it sees, it’s cache grows. Most recently, Flex won ‘Urban Truck of the Year’ at the 2009 Urban Wheel Awards during the North American International Auto Show, trumping the BMW X6 and Dodge Ram. A diverse panel of 23 judges from newspapers, magazines, broadcast sources and online media, organized by On Wheels Inc., voted for the Flex. Judges were asked to nominate three vehicles in the categories of car and trucks.The Flex beat out finalists BMW X6 and the Dodge Ram to win the title. Flex apparently has a serious toned muscle.
As I log in for the day’s recap, the last of the media are unwinding from the annual product assault that is part of the Detroit Auto Show. If they’re still lingering at the Volkswagen party at the Guardian Building vibing to the sounds of ex-pat Clark Warner, I hope they’re not driving far, because it all starts again bright and early tomorrow morning.
Covering an auto show hurts. Perhaps it has something to do with the misleading carpet at Cobo Hall that rests upon hard concrete, but after a day of vehicle debuts, everything hurts starting with sore feet, down to the crick in the back of throat from too much talking. The glaring difference from years past is the lack of glitz. No more heady haze, trying to keep all those opulent product debuts sorted. Though this isn’t a banner year for the adorned concept car there’s still a lot to reflect on in much more cerebral terms. Here are a few of the day’s highlights:
• GM employees exiting the building, still carrying their signs under their arms, “Game Changer.”
• Our upcoming wacky conversation with BMW Design Director Chris Bangle.
•Designer Ralph Gilles’s sleek Chrysler 200C EV sedan.
• The camaraderie among journalists and car company people happy to come together in honor of an industry and still collecting a pay check.
• The delicious decadence of Bentley GTC Speed, and the hint of big beautiful saloon on the horizon. The sinewy Z4 Roadster was cause for ooh and ahh.
• Carroll Shelby marking birthday 89 with another bad-ass Ford Shelby GT 500.
The Detroit Auto Show, the official North American International Auto Show hub-bub is in full swing. I arrived in GoTryke’s native digs today to attempt to comment with some degree of insightful coverage in this very curious time in automotive history. Plenty of material to choose from the pre-show display this evening — a clear indicator of just how much things have done a 360 in the last year.
The first conversation I had during my 2008 coverage was at the GM Tech Center in Warren with fashion designer Kevan Hall pulling garments for the swanky GM Style show. This year, my first conversation was with a UAW rep at the International Car of the Year Awards. He was not optimistic about what 2009 has in store for the auto industry, predicting tougher times ahead. It’s official: Marketing budgets have given away to full-fledged politics as the industry struggles to make it through this rough patch. From across town, I made the trek on unsalted snowy suburban freeways to the epicenter where the awards were held at the MGM ballroom, honoring the eloquent Warren Brown, who reminded me, “Remember it’s always about people, the people you love.” Brown is the kind of journalist we need more of in the car industry. (Kudos to the Dodge Ram and Nissan GT-R for top honors, and the Volkswagen TDI the green sleeper.)
While product is at the epicenter of auto show this year, much of the news will be in the buzz and in the somber tones of press conferences. Luckily, there are still some cars to look at on display and the sleek Mercedes McLarenStirling Moss (limited edition 75) infused a bit of much needed car enthusiasm before getting down to practical business at their reveal at the Cadillac Book Building for the 2010 E-Class unveiling. Dieter Zetsche, who is recast from his Chrysler duties as the big cheese at Mercedes-Benz laid out Mercedes’ greener than ever agenda, drawing parallels to the Obama administration, and then showing the BlueZero F-Cell, a fuel cell vehicle that uses electric drive, which will be produced in limited numbers later this year. Hmm. Interesting times, and the show hasn’t even officially begun.
How do you put a spin in uncertain times? That seems to be the $700 billion dollar question. Well, someone’s got to broach the sticky news with a little positive reassurance. Fortunately, we here at GoTryke come from the more informal world of the arts, where reassurance and branding are more about feeding the creative soul than reaching specified quotas. Plainly put, we never know what’s going to hit us next. That’s why we’re writing and designing and creating — because we can’t imagine a world without expression. We keep on trekking — by foot, wheel and ski. Others out there are more articulate about exacting this sort of message.
A new branding and design showPlatform is taking a stab at encouraging care tactics with a smart approach to the comfort zone. Read on:
In the current economic environment, it should come as no shock that consumers demand brands they can trust. Consumers want to know that the products they buy are made responsibly, safely, and honestly -and they will happily pay for that trust.
Corporate reputations are under siege for many reasons, cause communications key among them, since by the time a company addresses “cause” it’s often too little, too late. Generally such efforts find themselves out of alignment with the brand’s core values because they are tacked onto marketing programs at the end of the cycle rather than designed into the brand essence from the outset.
What’s needed today is a different approach that we call Effect Design. It flips the “cause and effect” equation and pays forward creative thinking to the benefit of people, planet and profits. Effect Design
marries brand purpose with creative thinking and business strategy from the start to deliverinnovative processes, energized products, empowered consumers and enhanced financials.
Imagine if environmentally-minded, huge Starbucks could capture the energy from every one of its millions of daily customers to help power its espresso machines? It would save the company energy costs, generate public awareness, and increase profits from a product innovation that can be sold, licensed, or shared with commercial partners. Or if much- loved Clorox took its “cleaner homes” mission into new at-home categories? Seriously: who better to sponsor anti-microbial countertops,
bathmats, or hand-towels?
The founding duo have an impressive background with some brands well-served by strong imaging. Glenn Geisendorfer, the co-founder of Seattle-based strategic design firm Platform, Inc., served as Global Creative Director at Starbucks, Group Design Director for theCoca-Cola Company and Design Director at Team Sports, Nike. Partner Gabe Goldman, co-founder of Platform Inc., has worked with Nike, K2 Sports, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Adidas, Jones SodaCo., Nordstrom, Levis, Ride Snowboards, Hasbro Toys and Quiksilver Snow/Rossignol .
Perhaps it’s time for restructuring of our corporate society. Some prescribe to the thought that our system has to crumble entirely to do so. It’s my hope that something better, like the Internet, take over naturally. People are placing bets on the car companies failing for a cleansing. I come from the school of building and not tearing down. As a dabbling historian, lest we forget mistakes to make them again? On the threshold of the North American International Auto Show, I like the idea of care tactics verse scare tactics. Corruption and greed is so 2007. The big biz buck stopped 2008 , and 2009 is a fine time to make things right.
While most of the news at the North American International Auto Show will be economic, political and generally bleak by nature, a few savory street cars promise to offer a little old-fashioned oomff. Behold one – the Bentley Continental GTC. I’ve had the privilege to test the GTC out on Rockie Mountain roads outside of Aspen with Chief Engineer Ulrich Eichhorn, who is the man that showed me how to properly appreciate and ingest a stocked W-12 engine bearing Bentley GTC. An experience behind the wheel I won’t soon forget. Hard to believe there’s a new model looming with even more substance — 600hp, 553 lb-ft. of torque, a top speed of 200mph and a 0-60 time of 4.5 seconds.
Senators, please. Or, like they say on the mean streets, put your money where your mouth is. Stop hating on American cars, especially when it’s clear you don’t drive them. If you did, you would see that the myth that Americans don’t make American cars is that — an unfortunate longstanding myth. Indeed, American car companies know how to make a decent family car. In fact, American car companies make some really good family cars. And while these cars are manufactured and conceived by an assembly comprised of a global network — using the same suppliers as foreign subsidiaries — these cars are helmed through the Detroit Mothership — proof in the pudding that many of the changes sought after are already in the mix. Things have come along way since 1964, the calendar year of the first Malibu as the mid-sized sedan reaches its seventh generation.
This week as Congress floundered I tested the 2009 Chevy Malibu. My version was a 4 speed six cylinder automobile. This is not my first jaunt in the Malibu, but it is my first jaunt in the Malibu as a mama, which means that I have now fulfilled a key demographic in the American economy — that of the soccer mom in training. And guess what? The Malibu withstands the mama test. Room for maneuvering a car seat in the interior? Check — and sturdy, too even in a messy rainstorm. Critical acclaim? Check:Car and Driver picked it as one of its 10 Best for 2008 and the Malibu was elected as the North American Car of the Year during the North American International Auto Show in January 2008. Fuel economy? check — 22 city and 30 mpg on the highway and a hybrid version that clocks 26 and 34 respectively.
Like it’s counterparts, the Malibu is not flashy, but it’s sensible, like the jeans that match everything in the closet. And the price is respectable compared to Accord and Camry competition. Admittedly, I’m not the one to drive sensibly, but as a new member of a demographic, I get it. For those who don’t keep up with the car news, the Malibu was refashioned last year, and they pulled it off. Malibu is a stalwart mid-sized ride that made me feel safe inside with a wide open panoramic view. Why can’t this be a real metaphor for the American car industry?
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