Detroit Auto Show 2009 -- a look behind the curtain

Much as one might love the Los Angeles Auto Show and feel gratified to see it grow in significance over the last few years, Detroit in January is still The Big One -- for North America, at least. And Motown 2009 will see several major launches, such as the next generations of Toyota Prius (pictured) and an all-new Ford Taurus.

Before we get to those, however, let’s take a quick look at what Audi has to offer. Even in these rocky economic times, our inner gearhead is always pleased to see a faster, more powerful sports car. The all-wheel-drive R8 has been lauded and applauded -- even with just a 420-horsepower 4.2-liter V-8 and a top speed of 187 mph. So that must have emboldened Audi to come up with a version that uses the same 5.2-liter V-10 from the Lamborghini Gallardo, tune it to produce 525 hp and give the car a top speed of 196 mph. All for around $180,000.

The compact SUV crossover that time and everyone else forgot, the Chevrolet Equinox, gets a fresh set of duds for the new year, plus a new 182-hp four-cylinder engine. Lexus will unveil a new dedicated hybrid model, called the HS250h. A new generation of Mercedes-Benz E-Class is also expected to make its world debut.

Ford’s new Taurus family sedan is slated to be more like the Mondeo, a car that has been perennially popular in Europe for its price and poise. This 2010 model’s styling comes from Ford’s design studios across the pond. No official images have been released yet, so keep an eye on this site.

Only a teaser shot of a badge signals an interesting product from Toyota. It bears the initials EV and is said to be a subcompact electric vehicle concept. Toyota is considering the production of something along these lines with a target price of around $20,000. Otherwise, it’s the 2010 Prius that will probably cause the biggest stir on the Toyota stand, although generation three doesn’t differ that much from generation two. The engine gets a mild hike from 1.5 to 1.6 liters, and although the car will start off with nickel metal hydride batteries, these may be replaced by lithium ion packs around 2011.

This model had better be good. Honda’s new Insight hybrid will be coming out about the same time and is set to cost about $2,000 less.

-- Colin Ryan

Photos: Audi, Toyota

Comments

[Brandon]

I'm quite impressed with Ford. Can't wait tosee the new Taurus. Toyota and Honda are good and all but they have bland styling.

[dave]

I love the autoshow, I go every year. I suppose there might be a bleak atmosphere this year in particular, but I am excited about it either way.

[pnutvndr]

Honda and Toyota have always been bland. Look who drives their cars...(loved the neighbor who refused to acknowledge her Lexus was a Toyota).
Anyone noticed that the major car companies don't mention how tough times are in new car ads? Business as usual with these guys which is what got 'em in this mess in the beginning.
Finally, why would I want to jump on the Hybrid bandwagon? Such a complicated motor surely could've bypassed gasoline and gone straight electric. What a gimmick and what hype. Can we ween ourselves off the gasoline teat??

[steve]

pnutvndr:

uh, i wouldn't call going "straight electric" a way of "ween[ing] ourselves off the gasoline teat".

that's what hybrids are for.

[Frankenbike]

We can't "ween ourselves off the gasoline teat" until we have some form of electric storage that has comparable energy density and retrieval characteristics to gasoline per weight/volume.

There are some promising technologies like "ultracapacitors" in line to do that, which can be recharged as fast as a gas tank, but their storage capacity even optimistically is still under 10% of gasoline's per weight/volume.

No one wants to get stuck in the fast lane because they exceeded their car's 60-150 mile range with no help of getting back on the road. You can't just pull into an electric "fill up station" and wait for 3-6 hours for your car to fill up. At least not the majority of drivers.

"Plug in hybrids" are the best short term hope. Some miles on battery only, gas for extended travel.

The reason to jump on the hybrid bandwagon is simple: it recovers a significant amount of the energy wasted by any gasoline engine due to using brakes or decelerating. And supporting the electric technologies used in hybrids will mean that when the technology is finally available to make fully electric vehicles comparable in power and range to gasoline models, the electric locomotion part of the puzzle will be more highly evolved and ready to be deployed.

[tanstaafl]

It's weAn.

And why would carmakers want to talk about bad economic times in their ads ?

Car shows can be very exciting. As someone wrote recently somewhere, why aren't more of the very interesting prototypes manufactured for sale ?

I know, expense. But our homogeneous times could use a little jazzing up in automobile design.

[Indian Ridge]

I am still really disappointed in American policy prohibiting the manufacturing of diesel engines using 'clean diesel' technology developed in Europe. Four cylinder versions of this type of power easily post 60mpg plus. I cannot understand why, unless it is the influence of Big Oil.

[Curt]

Tanstafl - The reason that diesel hasn't "been offered" is because of the extremely tough California environmental legislation. CA EPA rules are much stricter than European Union rules. Mercedes will be introducing their complex and expensive answer, Blue-tec, pollution controls which include injecting the chemical urea into the exhaust stream and secondary catalytic converter, etc. Also, in the USA, diesel costs more than gasoline. The EU taxes diesel less than gasoline to encourage its use. Short answer, ask the Sierra Club or the CA Green lobby.

[Steve]

Ford is the horse in this race I'd stake my money on (and I have).
The Escape Hybrid is fantastic. The extra time they spent manufacturing it really shows on the road and over time.
They're also already re-tooling their factories to bring the fuel efficient and profitable car's they have in Europe over by 2010.

[David]

Why not diesel when they are using it in Europe to great advantage?

It's not because of new fuel standards that are more strict here... they are barely more strict here than over there right now.

It's because gas and diesel are made from different parts of crude. The barrel of crude is split many ways.

Europe, for decades, has been buying the bulk of that diesel split, and we've been buying the gas.

This is reflected in our refineries. We have hardly any diesel refineries in the US.

To put diesel cars on the road like in Europe would make for 2 MAJOR issues.... we'd be buying up Europes diesel (which would increase the price) and we'd need to build more refineries (which would take years and increase the price).

You just can't get diesel setup in the US like you can Europe. There just isn't enough diesel to go around. Someone has to use all the gas that comes next to the diesel split.

Thats us in the US, because Europe was smarter and has their hold on the diesel split already.

[James Kally]

Ford does not have bland styling? Geez, you americans know your cars well... RIP Ford, GM!!! Keep up with your stupid car buying habits and continue to kill the planet!