What will it take to stop the bleeding at General Motors and Ford? Or, for that matter, to keep the recovery going at Chrysler Group?
The answer is new product and the domestic trio will unveil a variety of it at the Detroit Auto Show. The media preview this week is aimed at focusing attention on the hardware and off the balance sheets.
Notable introductions include a number of concepts.
They are the Camaro, a name last used in 2001 when Chevrolet dropped the sports coupe; the Dodge Challenger coupe and Chrysler Imperial luxury sedan; the Ford Reflex mini plus a luxury Lincoln sedan that could be the successor to Continental soon.
Here’s a rundown of the vehicles to watch:
Chevrolet Camaro concept: Chevy is holding off details until it is unveiled later this week. Originally thought to be derived off the rear-wheel-drive Kappa platform of Pontiac Solstice fame, it now is expected it will be a much larger car. Size means it can boast a V-8 to better compete with the Ford Mustang that basically had the sports coupe segment to itself when Camaro and the Pontiac Firebird left that market.
2007 Chevrolet Tahoe: The long-awaited remake of General Motors’ full-size SUV lineup, the carmaker’s bread and butter, will be unveiled in two forms: Gasoline and two-mode gas/electric power.
Tahoe rides on the same wheelbase as the previous version, but is 5 inches longer and 2 inches taller. Yet the designers rounded the front and rear ends so the vehicle not only enjoys better fuel saving aerodynamics, it looks smaller than it was to change the perception that it is so big it must guzzle gas besides being difficult to handle.
New or substantially revised features include power folding seats in the second row, remote vehicle start, heated front- and second-row seats, rearview camera system, power running boards (which arrive later in the year), side-curtain air bags, StabiliTrak stability control system with roll mitigation and touch-screen navigation system.
Both will have a new generation 5.3-liter, 320-horsepower V-8 (up from 295) with Active Fuel Management, a new name for displacement on demand. Four cylinders shut down when not needed to conserve fuel.
Chevy says the 5.3 will be rated at 16 m.p.g. city/22 m.p.g. with two-wheel-drive up from 14/18 with the old engine and 15/21 with four-wheel-drive, up from 13/17.
The gasoline-powered regular Tahoe goes on sale in the first quarter of this year the Tahoe and companion GMC Yukon hybrids go on sale next year as 2008 models.
The two-mode hybrid Tahoe starts and runs on electric power until reaching about 20 to 25 m.p.h. Then the gas engine takes over. If more power is needed, such as to pass, the battery power will lend a hand. Cruising at highway speeds, the truck will run on gas, but those 4 cylinders will shut down to conserve fuel.
GM said the two-mode system can run in battery power alone at cruising speed, but it opted not to do so in the full-size truck. However, it hasn’t ruled out option when it adds the two-mode system to the 2007 Chevy Malibu.
2007 Saturn Vue Green Line: The gas/electric version of the Saturn SUV will go on sale this fall. With a 2.2-liter 4-cylinder teamed with a battery-powered electric motor, the Green Line will be rated at 27 m.p.g. city/32 m.p.g. highway, up from 22/26 with the 2.4-liter 4-cylinder gas engine. Unlike most hybrids, Saturn says the Green Line shuts off the gas engine when you would idle at a stoplight, shuts off fuel to the engine during deceleration and uses battery assist during acceleration. It doesn’t start the vehicle in battery mode or operate solely on batteries at any time, so Saturn says the system will add less than $2,000 to the price of the Vue. Full hybrids can add $5,000 or more.
Dodge Challenger concept: Just like it did with the Charger, Dodge is bringing back a name a ’70s muscle car name. Challenger is derived from the same platform as the Chrysler 300, which also gave birth to the Charger. Only in keeping with the ’70s, this concept is a two-door that’s six inches shorter and 2 inches wider than the original. The wheelbase has been shortened by 4 inches yet overall length is the same as the Charger.
Challenger rests on 20-inch radial tires upfront and 21-inch radials in the rear. And it packs a 6.1-liter, 425-horsepower, Hemi V-8 teamed with a 6-speed manual.
Dodge boasts zero- to 60-m.p.h. in 4.5 seconds, a 13-second quarter mile and top speed of 174 m.p.h.
The hood reprises that from the original Challenger with twin diagonal scoops, but what look like racing stripes are the hood’s exposed carbon fiber material. Hood tie-down pins from the ’70 model, however, were vetoed by designers for this concept.
No sale date–as yet.
Chrysler Imperial concept: Head back to the vault for another retired nameplate. Imperial was part of Chrysler’s lineup in 1924, the year former Chairman Lee Iacocca was born.
Imperial was produced in four-door version through 1975 and with two doors through 1983 before the nameplate was shelved. Iacocca brought the name back between 1990-1993, but the car failed, in part because it was a derivative of the front-wheel-drive compact K-cars. Consumers wouldn’t accept it as a luxury sedan, especially because it had only a V-6 engine and technology limited to a driver’s side air bag and anti-lock brakes.
Details are few, but the new Imperial will be derived from the full-size, rear-/all-wheel-drive Chrysler 300 sedan with a 5.7-liter, 340-h.p. Hemi V-8 engine with multiple displacement. That shuts off 4 cylinders when not needed for better fuel economy.
To further distinguish it from the 300 and to provide the size needed for a top-of-the-line luxury sedan, its wheelbase reportedly is 3- to 4-inches longer and overall length from 1- to 1 1/2-feet longer than a 300. And the cabin is expected to be bathed in leather and wood trim.
No word on whether or when it will be produced, but Chrysler seldom shows concepts for the fun of it.
2007 Ford Edge: Ford expects crossovers to outsell traditional SUVs in 2006 and to help achieve that feat it brings out a front-/all-wheel-drive crossover derived from the same platform as the midsize Ford Fusion sedan that goes on sale this fall.
It will sport a new 3.5-liter, 250-h.p. V-6 teamed with a 6-speed automatic transmission and offer AdvanceTrac stability control with roll stability control and a safety canopy that stays inflated in a rollover.
It also will offer a Vista Roof, a large power opening glass moon roof over front seat occupants and a fixed glass panel over rear seat occupants.
Ford Reflex concept: Ford’s possible answer to the Aveo at Chevy, Fit at Honda and Yaris at Toyota is a mini car smaller than the Focus aimed at consumers looking for a high-mileage, low-price commuter.
Like the mini CT Miev concept from Mitsubishi, Reflex is a hybrid, but unlike the gas/electric MIEV this is a diesel/electric capable of 65 m.p.g. But that doesn’t mean a production mini car would be a hybrid.
Novel features include side-curtain air bags; a “love” seat in back that holds one adult or, at the touch of a button, a seat for two kids thanks to a divider bar that raises through the seat bottom; solar panels in roof to recharge the battery pack, self-powered solar fans in the panels that cool the car when parked and solar panels in the headlamps and taillamps that use energy captured in the battery pack to power the lights at night, interior trim made from recycled material and sound insulation made from ground rubber scrap from Nike tennis shoes and rear-seat inflatable safety belts with BeltMinder, which beeps if passengers don’t buckle up.
Ford F-250 Super Chief concept: Inspired by the American Super Chief trains of the past, this super-duty Ford pickup concept is powered by a supercharged V-10 engine that can run up to 500 miles on gasoline, hydrogen or E85 ethanol. Interior hints at some changes Ford may be making to pickups in 2007, such as full glass sunroof and a power, rear-seat ottomans that rise from the floor so occupants can put their feet up and relax.
2007 Ford Shelby GT500: It will be the most powerful Mustang when it comes out this summer in coupe and convertible versions. Its supercharged 5.4-liter V-8 develops 475 h.p. and 475 foot-pounds of torque.
Among the other introductions are a gas/electric version of the Camry as yet another expansion of Toyota’s hybrid lineup. Toyota also will bring out the Yaris to compete with the Honda Fit and Nissan Versa, all hatchbacks in the mini car segment. Mitsubishi goes them one better with the CT MIEV, a hybrid mini concept.
The Buick Enclave, a midsize crossover, will be joined by the Saturn Outlook and GMC Acadia for 2007. But only Enclave is at the show. So are the Dodge Caliber crossover that replaces the Neon at Belvidere, plus a new compact Jeep Compass expected to join Caliber at Belvidere. Lexus brings out the LS460 update of its top-of-the-line sedan. And the Hyundai Sante Fe grows to get three rows of seats.
A Chinese offering called Geely is shooting for a 2008 intro in the U.S. The next generation Nissan Sentra as well as the small Urge concept roadster to vie with the Pontiac Solstice bow. A concept crossover called Soul from Kia will be present along with Lincoln midsize crossover companion to the Ford Edge and a concept of a full-size luxury sedan from Lincoln. The midsize crossover from Mazda, called the CX-7, also bows.
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jmateja@tribune.com
