Archive for the ‘Detroit’ Category

Halloween is done and Thanksgiving is looming, so that can only mean one thing: just two more months until the 2010 Detroit auto show! This year's gathering will see a new display area for up to 20 electric vehicles -- many of which come from smaller companies like San Jose's Green Vehicles that couldn't ordinarily afford to display at the show. This is a great way for NAIAS to generate revenue and buzz, and we dig the idea of seeing startup automakers given a chance to shine, but we wish EV engines were louder: we're expecting an endless loop of terrible background music down on "Electric Avenue". [Freep]

Not so long ago, brand loyalty played a major role in keeping the auto industry healthy. Many of our parents bought vehicles from one particular manufacturer, and they often inherited such preferences from their own parents. Here in the U.S., brand perception was frequently rooted in national pride: 40 years after VJ Day, my grandparents refused to so much as ride in a Japanese vehicle.

For manufacturers, that kind of brand loyalty made marketing easy and economical: why spend thousands of dollars trying to convince buyers that a particular car was right for them, when all they really needed to see was the Ford or Chevy or Chrysler badge on...

Over the past eighteen months or so, the auto industry has been going through one of the most pronounced periods of change ever. While the Japanese and South Korean auto industries have avoided major upheavals, two major U.S. automakers have gone bankrupt, long-held brands have been sold to overseas companies, and other international companies we’d never heard of have now earned name recognition.

And yes, even a quintessential American brand, Hummer, has been sold to a Chinese company.

Yet other upstarts look poised to break into the market and, even if they’re not yet serious contenders, it’s enough to keep the major automakers worriedly...