Volkswagen is working to continue to gain market share in the United States.
Today at the Detroit Auto Show, the company unveiled a new concept car aimed at the highly sought after North American SUV market.
The "CrossBlue," as it's called now, is a six to seven seat SUV with a "plug-in hybrid powertrain that mates a TDI Clean Diesel engine with two electric motors."
That's right... lift the hood, and you're not likely to know what the heck you're looking at.
But that's the future of cars. Automakers are moving toward cars with multiple power plants that can be engaged in different circumstances.
Volkswagen says the "CrossBlue" would get 35 mpg in "combined mode" (similar to the hybrid mode of today's Prius), and the equivalent of 89 mpg in all-electric mode (with a range in that mode of 14 miles).
Here's the unveiling of VW "CrossBlue" (complete with the 'demographic dancers'):
Jonathan Browning, President and CEO of Volkswagen Group America said the CrossBlue concept is "exactly the right type of vehicle for the U.S. market," but it still has a ways to go before it would be introduced here.
The car is an indication of where the company is headed.
Well... at least in the movie theaters. Ford executives are hoping enthusiasm for its re-tweaked Lincoln brand grows as well (the company is using the former president in advertising campaigns for the newly named "Lincoln Motor Company").
Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr., President and CEO Allan Mulally, and Executive Vice President of Global Marketing, Sales and Service Lincoln James Farley were all up on stage to unveil the new concept car at the Detroit Auto Show this morning - the Lincoln MKC.
Take a look at the unveiling:
Bill Vlasic wrote about the challenges faced by the struggling Lincoln brand in the New York Times:
As recently as the 1990s, Lincoln was the top-selling luxury automotive brand in the United States. Its large Town Car sedan and hulking Navigator S.U.V. defined the brand, and sales topped more than 230,000 vehicles a year.
But since then, Lincoln has been left in the dust by the German category leaders BMW and Mercedes-Benz, and Toyota’s Lexus division. This year, Lincoln ranks eighth in the American luxury segment, with sales down 2 percent, to 69,000, vehicles in the first 10 months of the year.
Its crosstown rival G.M. has had much better success reviving its Cadillac brand.
A group of 49 automotive journalists from North America chose the Cadillac ATS as the 2013 Car of the Year.
The announcement was made this morning during the press preview of the Detroit Auto Show.
The Cadillac was among two other finalists, the Ford Fusion and the Honda Accord.
In a statement, Bob Ferguson, GM's vice president of global Cadillac said "this is a very meaningful honor for the entire Cadillac team, especially the men and women who build the ATS in Lansing, Michigan, and our dedicated and talented designers and engineers."
In a statement, Fred Diaz, President and CEO of Ram Truck Brand and Chrysler de Mexico, Chrysler Group LLC, said:
"For the Ram Truck Brand, this ranks as one of the proudest days in our history. Every truck-maker aspires to win the North American Truck/Utility of the Year. I tip my hat to the folks who worked behind the scenes to make the 2013 Ram 1500 a technological triumph."
The North American International Auto Show in Detroit kicks off on Monday with preview days for the international press.
The show opens to the public next Saturday. One of the highlights this year may not even be a car.
Auto show vice chairman Bob Schuman is pretty confident that everyone who goes to the show will be talking about the new Corvette, Chevy's top of the line sports car. But they may also be talking about the ongoing Cobo renovation. Cobo has a new atrium that opens up the convention center to a view of the river and the Windsor skyline.
The North American International Auto Show will be starting at Detroit’s Cobo Center in a couple weeks, and anyone who cares about cars can go see virtually every new model in existence.
This has been an annual tradition for more than a century. But I’ve thought for a long time that we don’t do nearly enough to celebrate the amazing heritage of our signature industry.
Think about it. Motor vehicles, primarily cars, are what transformed Michigan from a farm state not all that different from Iowa into the industrial powerhouse that put the world on wheels.
That’s fascinating, and there are few of us whose lives are not connected to the auto industry in some way. But where do you go to learn about and celebrate that heritage? Sadly, fewer and fewer places.
The view's spectacular (except for the construction equipment) in Cobo's soon to be nearly completed atrium. The unfinished ballroom (formerly Cobo Arena) will be curtained off during the upcoming North American International Auto Show
Credit Steve Carmody/Michigan Radio
Officials promise the atrium will be open to people attending the NAIAS in January. But after the auto show, construction workers will roll back in to complete the Cobo Center's $279 million dollar renovation project. Work should wrap up by June.
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