Detroit 2012 in brief: times of uncertainty
The new 2012 Ford Mondeo?
By Bob Hume, 11th January 2012
Hyundai Elantra and Range Rover Evoque took the US Car of the Year awards at the Detroit Show but North America's own Ford gave strong hints of the next Mondeo when it revealed its new Fusion.
It should be made clear that the Fusion in USA is a mid-sized saloon and the new model is the first of 10 related cars to be produced at a combined rate of 1m a year including replacements for the Mondeo, S-Max and Galaxy MPVs.
Meanwhile, over at the stand run by the troubled General Motors, there are two small Chevrolets which GM says will look and feel like proper sports cars but cost around £13,000.
Well that should save the US car industry.
Chevrolet Tru 140S
The GM concepts, poetically named the Tru 140S and the Code 130R, are four-seaters which can achieve 40mpg. The US giant is reported to be seeking opinions from young buyers as a key part of its development process.
There was no doubt that GM had threatened to build something exciting and had also built some hopes on its home turf but these were obviously empty sentiments, familiar from last year's show.
new Porsche Carrera Cabriolet
Whilst the Ford Fusion (Mondeo) and the Dodge Dart represented a softer, more environmentally-friendly approach to new models, there were still cars to drool over.
The new Porsche Carrera Cabriolet was definitely a contender but it was plainly outdone by the promise of a new Honda NSX.
Like most motorshows in the last few years, the majority of car-makers were blithering on about the environment but it turns out that there is still a refreshing reliance on the internal combustion engine on this side of the Atlantic.
Petrol is still considerably cheaper than in the UK but reduced mpg and CO2 is very much at the forefront for all the carmakers with 40mpg still remaining as the magic number.
Bentley Continental V8
Things tend to grind to a halt, however when Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) focus most of its attention on a motorshow that clearly clashed with Detroit. The New Delhi Auto Expo was obviously more important for the Indian-owned JLR to display its wares and why not? This is a rapidly developing nation that is home to one of the largest and most promising vehicle manufacturers in the world. Tata also happens to own JLR.
In other news, Mini showed off the new Roadster for the first time in the US and Bentley was also there, taking the wraps off two Continental V8 models, the new 4.0 litre, twin turbocharged GT coupé and GTC convertible.
My summary is that we should all accept that, given the general theme provided by Detroit, these are strange times for the car industry and that the 2012 Detroit Expo is the beginning of an inevitable schedule of uncertainty.
