Autoblog has a great summary of all the cars and concept cars that were unveiled today to get you up to speed:
http://www.autoblog.com/2011/01/10/obsessively-covering-the-2011-detroit-auto-show-day-1/
Just wanted to stimulate some discussion in a non-car-forum community, those guys are often pretty nuts and suffer from a lot of brand loyalty (people on a mac forum don't even know the meaning of the word!
)
Here are my thoughts:
Audi - A6 Hybrid: Pretty nice vehicle, although bragging about all electric range and max electric speed in a non-plug-in hybrid is pretty pointless, considering all the energy has to come from burning gasoline anyway. Going 3km on all-electric just means your engine's gonna have to work harder afterwards to recharge the battery.
BMW - 1 Series M: Very hot! Too bad we won't get a hatchback though!
- 6 Series convertible: sooooo ugly, IMO. I actually miss Chris Bangle!
Chevy Sonic: I like it a lot! The B-segment is now really flushed out at this point. Even the sedan looks good, that's surprising. I usually find B-segment sedans really awkward.
Chrysler 300: This is too modest a restyling I think. Great you made it look more like an Audi. It looks better than the old one for sure, less polarizing, but I don't think it'll help the vehicle make many more sales. Chrysler really needs some help on the cars front, how bout a decent C-segment contender? Not to say anything of the 200...
Ford - C-Max Hybrid and Energi: that's a pretty lame name for the PHEV, but they've sure built up a very nice lineup of alternative powertrains, and they'll all be coming out of the same plant (these two plus the gas and electric Focus models). Really not a fan of the "C-Max" name itself, either. The vehicles look pretty cool though, just not sure if people in general are interested in this format of a vehicle. I'm more of a series hybrid fan (i've built a few myself), but I think there's room for a PHEV like this one, it should offer a pretty nice compromise.
-Vertrek: I'm not a big fan. I like the current escape a lot, this thing abandons the "rugged" "truck-like" styling for something much more sleek. This could be a key to increasing sales, i'm not sure, but I prefer something that looks a little tougher.
Honda Civic "Concept" - snoooooze fest! I am shocked that Honda put together something that's such a modest departure from the current 5 year old design. That design was very impressive when it first came out, now they seem to be giving us a simple MCE when it really needs more to stay fresh.
Hyundai - Veloster: I really like the proportions and the general format of the car, but I'm really not a fan of the details of the front end (headlights, grill). Those designers need to calm down!! Thumbs up to the 6-speed manual as standard!
Porsche 918: I'm a huge fan of that powertrain, followed along with the 24 hours of Nurburgring when the GT3 Hybrid almost won. Lets hope Porsche fields this in a few races as well. The car looks great too.
Toyota - Prius family expansion: I like their approach here. The Prius V is an interesting option (lines up very well with the C-Max hybrid, although a year sooner). The styling is a little weird though, maybe it's the profile that bothers me, but of course that's essential for the aerodynamics.
The little Prius C hatchback is very cool, i love the format, personally a small hatchback hybrid is probably the closest to what I'd be in the market for. The proportions and profile on this thing are fantastic, the tail is nice, but good god those headlights just DON"T WORK. They ruined it for me, hopefully a production model would tone that down a lot!
VW - Passat: Generally I guess it's pretty handsome, but I just find it very bland. I don't think this thing will stand out very well, but I guess VW's have generally always been about moderate good looks. We'll see what the market says, I feel like I've lost track of the Passat over the last few years.
http://www.autoblog.com/2011/01/10/obsessively-covering-the-2011-detroit-auto-show-day-1/
Just wanted to stimulate some discussion in a non-car-forum community, those guys are often pretty nuts and suffer from a lot of brand loyalty (people on a mac forum don't even know the meaning of the word!
)Here are my thoughts:
Audi - A6 Hybrid: Pretty nice vehicle, although bragging about all electric range and max electric speed in a non-plug-in hybrid is pretty pointless, considering all the energy has to come from burning gasoline anyway. Going 3km on all-electric just means your engine's gonna have to work harder afterwards to recharge the battery.
BMW - 1 Series M: Very hot! Too bad we won't get a hatchback though!
- 6 Series convertible: sooooo ugly, IMO. I actually miss Chris Bangle!
Chevy Sonic: I like it a lot! The B-segment is now really flushed out at this point. Even the sedan looks good, that's surprising. I usually find B-segment sedans really awkward.
Chrysler 300: This is too modest a restyling I think. Great you made it look more like an Audi. It looks better than the old one for sure, less polarizing, but I don't think it'll help the vehicle make many more sales. Chrysler really needs some help on the cars front, how bout a decent C-segment contender? Not to say anything of the 200...
Ford - C-Max Hybrid and Energi: that's a pretty lame name for the PHEV, but they've sure built up a very nice lineup of alternative powertrains, and they'll all be coming out of the same plant (these two plus the gas and electric Focus models). Really not a fan of the "C-Max" name itself, either. The vehicles look pretty cool though, just not sure if people in general are interested in this format of a vehicle. I'm more of a series hybrid fan (i've built a few myself), but I think there's room for a PHEV like this one, it should offer a pretty nice compromise.
-Vertrek: I'm not a big fan. I like the current escape a lot, this thing abandons the "rugged" "truck-like" styling for something much more sleek. This could be a key to increasing sales, i'm not sure, but I prefer something that looks a little tougher.
Honda Civic "Concept" - snoooooze fest! I am shocked that Honda put together something that's such a modest departure from the current 5 year old design. That design was very impressive when it first came out, now they seem to be giving us a simple MCE when it really needs more to stay fresh.
Hyundai - Veloster: I really like the proportions and the general format of the car, but I'm really not a fan of the details of the front end (headlights, grill). Those designers need to calm down!! Thumbs up to the 6-speed manual as standard!
Porsche 918: I'm a huge fan of that powertrain, followed along with the 24 hours of Nurburgring when the GT3 Hybrid almost won. Lets hope Porsche fields this in a few races as well. The car looks great too.
Toyota - Prius family expansion: I like their approach here. The Prius V is an interesting option (lines up very well with the C-Max hybrid, although a year sooner). The styling is a little weird though, maybe it's the profile that bothers me, but of course that's essential for the aerodynamics.
The little Prius C hatchback is very cool, i love the format, personally a small hatchback hybrid is probably the closest to what I'd be in the market for. The proportions and profile on this thing are fantastic, the tail is nice, but good god those headlights just DON"T WORK. They ruined it for me, hopefully a production model would tone that down a lot!
VW - Passat: Generally I guess it's pretty handsome, but I just find it very bland. I don't think this thing will stand out very well, but I guess VW's have generally always been about moderate good looks. We'll see what the market says, I feel like I've lost track of the Passat over the last few years.
