One of the highlights of the Detroit Auto Show media preview last week was the unveiling of the latest DaimlerChrysler concepts, the Chrysler Crossfire two-seat coupe; Jeep Willys four-wheel-drive, open-top sport-utility vehicle; and Chrysler Super8 Hemi, a high-performance, rear-wheel-drive sedan.
A fourth concept, the Dodge Power Box full-size SUV, was unveiled at the Los Angeles Auto Show a week earlier and will join the others at the Chicago Auto Show Feb. 9 through 18 in McCormick Place South.
Perhaps one reason the media was 100 deep in trying to get a look-see at the concepts was fear that with Daimler in control of Chrysler, the long-standing policy of using auto shows to unveil a batch of Chrysler concepts might draw to a close.
Dieter Zetsche, president and chief executive of Chrysler, vowed that won’t happen.
“New products will never play a bigger role than they will in the future here,” he said in an interview.
“Showing new concepts is the perfect tool to show our commitment to new products. And new concepts are also a perfect tool to test which of those concepts should be on the road later on,” Zetsche said.
As for media betting, Crossfire is a prohibitive favorite for production; Willys is given 2-to-1 odds in favor of production–with a hardtop cover as well as an open top; the Super8 Hemi is a 10-to-1 long shot that needs fine-tuning, especially the front roof and front windshield, which looks more like the rear roof and rear window on a ’57 Chevy; and a verdict on the Power Box awaits a final decision by D/C whether it produces a full-size SUV as once planned or scraps the project, which has been put on hold.
Wagon, ho: Kia is adding a subcompact Rio wagon for 2001. There’s no firm price other than a vow that it will sell for less than $13,700, according to Dick Macedo, executive vice president of sales and marketing.
Macedo said 2000 was good for the South Korean automaker, as sales rose by 20,000 units, to 160,000, and are forecast to rise by another 50,000 units for 2001. Macedo boasted that the little South Korean automaker, whose sales totaled 40,000 units in calendar 1996, now outsells such major import players as Acura, Volvo, Isuzu and Saab in the U.S. And when it comes to small sport-utes, the little Sportage outsold the Toyota RAV4 by 9,000 units in 2000, he said. By the way, Sportage will get a V-6 for the first time in the 2003 model year, supplied by its partner Hyundai.
Sweet nothings?: There is a technical name for the in-depth consumer studies and analysis that go on at auto shows, vital information and data used by automakers to determine who likes what and why to prepare to produce or scrap a project. According to Jim O’Connor, president of Ford division, that name is “murmur research.”
In other words, the person standing next to you while you check out the 2002 Thunderbird at the Chicago Auto Show, simply listens in on your comments and reports back to headquarters.
Hot button: The Dodge Viper goes retro for the 2003 model year with the addition of a push-button starter. That 2003 Viper convertible will sport an 8.3-liter, 505-horsepower, V-10 engine that produces 500-plus foot-pounds of torque, up from the current 8-liter, 475-h.p. V-10 that produces 500-plus foot-pounds of torque.
Air quality: So what effect will the appearance of George W. in D.C. have on the automakers? Will the new president, as expected, be more likely to ease regulations, than Al Gore would have been?
“Actually we don’t anticipate any real change of direction from Washington. Anyway, we are ahead of the curve when it comes to most future regulations anyway, especially when it comes to emissions and safety,” said Jac Nasser, president of Ford.
Renegade proposal: DaimlerChrysler unveiled a Jeep Liberty sport-utility concept at the Detroit show call Renegade that features a light bar along the roof, lower body or rock rails for off-road protection, a large roof rack and simulated bolt-on fender flares.
The Renegade name was last used to denote an optional sporty decor package on the Jeep Wrangler in 1993.
“We want to get consumer reaction to it on the auto-show circuit this year,” said Tom Marinelli, head of the Chrysler/Jeep brand center.
Plant openings: Craig Love, vice president of engineering for the Liberty, said the Willys concept Jeep making the auto-show rounds could be an addition to the Wrangler lineup and not just a successor.
“It could be a model offering just below or just above the Wrangler–with an enclosed top,” he said.
D/C produces the Jeep Cherokee and Wrangler at an old plant in Toledo, Ohio, and will produce the Liberty at a new plant across the street this summer. Now that it has said it is dropping Cherokee, what will fill the void in the old plant?
“At this point, nothing is going in,” Marinelli said.
