Chicago Weekend Fun!

I went to the Chicago Auto Showlast weekend and wanted to post a recap of the show since I wrote about it on the ChicagoWeekendFun blog earlier. The Chicago Auto Show has always been a huge spectacle of automobiles and trucks and this year was no exception. The Auto Show takes up the 2 largest convention halls at McCormick Place in Chicago and you can’t possibly see everything in one afternoon. We spend 4 hours walking around before our feet told us it was time to go home. We somehow missed getting Mazda and Chevrolet brochures, but generally saw everything else car related. (We aren’t truck buyers so we generally don’t spend much time with those displays) Here are some of my opinions on the displays and cars from this year’s show:

1. Ford -Ford was front and center of the large hall when you entered. They had the right half of the floor and Toyota had the left. The problem was that no one was particularly excited about the ford cars. I think some people were but a lot were just walking through. Still it was nice to see that Ford still had an integrated display with their other brands and they had several really nice concept cars and new models to showcase. The Flex was one and the next generation focus was another. The fandom of the Mustang seemed to be cooling off. As are the trucks. The edge was another bright spot for Ford. Lincoln had their version of the Edge with the fancy grille and the MKZ and a concept luxury car. Was Mercury even there? I must have missed them. Gone are the days when Ford, Lincoln and Mercury all had big displays with very different car lines on display.

2. GM – Most of their cars were in the smaller hall with less traffic. This “cheaper” floor space hurt them in getting people to see the new cars and the advances they are making in fuel efficiency and green cars. The one thing that did draw some people was the new ZR1 Corvette. Whether you are an import or American car fan most kids grow up dreaming of a Corvette. Most everyone was there to see the Camaro/Corvette girl list the latest and greatest advancements in 600 horsepower technology. I couldn’t help but notice though that a lot of the people looking at American cars were Latino. That seems to be their core segment now. Buick was a draw despite it being hidden in the far back corner of the hall, because of the new Riviera concept car. I for one would love to see that car hit the road. Pontiac and Saturn both had almost no one at their displays maybe since the G6 has lost some thunder (its just another cheap car) they aren’t the envy of the public anymore. Hummer and Saab were there also but no one should buy either one of those. You will either have to spend a kings’ ransom on gas or have a car that breaks down constantly. Cadillac had some activity being in the upscale luxury market which always draws a crowd. Most all the displays were exactly the same this year as last year. This is somewhat disappointing seeing that they went the cheap way with re-using all the displays from last year and getting cheaper floor space. This doesn’t look good for the future of GM.

3. Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep -They did the Jeep let us drive you around this obstacle course display again this year and as per usual there was a line that took more than an hour to wait through. I have never gone on that ride and probably never will because it just adds too much time to the show when it is already 4 hours long. The other draw was that Dodge had the new Challenger there with a few different paint schemes and they also had another fun activity for a free gift. Last year you got to vote for your favorite color from back in the day, this year you answered 3 questions via text message and you got a free hot wheel type model of the Challenger in orange black or silver. Later in the week when they realized they had enough they started giving out more than one to get through all the boxes. They also had a few Vipers there but it is loosing it’s popularity and there weren’t as many people as you would think admiring the car. I’m not someone in the market for a Mini Van so I skipped that portion of the exhibits. They did have the Nassau concept back again of which I like because it combines a luxury sedan with a hatchback, of which I think more cars should do because it is really practical. They also had the Chargerthere with all it’s special editions of mopar goodness.

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4. Toyota -Scion returned with their uber popular urban stacked garage display and even added bleacher seats for people who wanted to see the action. They build this cube stacked garage thing where they have cars in the cubes but roll down these screens in front of the cars to show a fancy video display and movie. Then screens go up and down in coordination to show different clips and features. It’s very slick and I can’t see anything really topping this anytime soon for this market. I am a bit old for the Scion car brand but I like their inventiveness in designs and willingness to push boundaries. Their XB has spawned the next big trend in car designs and crosssovers: Squareness. Almost every car company had something brick square on display for sale or in concept. Everyone is copying them. Toyota and Lexus had their usual collection of very efficient well built quality vehicles on display. Despite Green-ness loosing popularity as people realize it’s not as practical or affordable as they think; the Prius still had droves of people looking at it. No one cared what other car makers had hybrids, the Priusis iconic. And as iconic as the Prius is, the Camry is boring. People still love it though, so more power to them. The new Corolladoes look ugly though, it looks like they are in an ugly competition with the Mitsubishi Evo and the Subaru WRX.

5. Honda -The 2008 Honda Accord4dr and 2dr are nice looking cars, they are a marked improvement from the last bodystyle in 2007. Honda also has some activity in the Civic area, these are still the most economical low cost cars to own and operate for a long time. They have also introduced a new smaller cool college market car the Fit. The Element looks less groundbreaking and more average these days, but they were their right with Scion as the first and second to market with square cars. The CRV is updated and cool for the small SUV set but the Pilot SUV looks like it got stuck in the 90′s and is badly in need of a re-design. The ridgeline truck is still just ugly with that raised side back bed. The Oddesy is a good minivan that a lot of families know and love. I like that they just did one minivan, and did it well rather than a half dozen of them kinda good. the S2000is fun for mid-life-crisis-ers, but it’s still a Miata copy and hasn’t really defined itself by style or function yet. This redeign is still underpowered and it’s very expensive for what you get. I’d like to see something slightly larger, curvy and sexy here. And with more power.

6. Acura – They really re-purposed the accord for the RL & TSX and the TL is a BMW copy that is so expensive I don’t know why I see so many on the road. Who really can afford to pay $40K or more for a car??? That is an enormous amount of money for most working folks. I bet most of the people buying these and a lot of the luxury cars want the status and bling and haven’t got much paid for on it or in other areas of their life. If you can afford one, let me know if  I can get into the business you’re in. I think there is an SUV based on the CRV here also, but it it doesn’t really stand out. I do appreciate their marketing strategy to make the car names just letters so you remember the Acura name rather than the car name. It has worked to improve brand awareness.

7. Subaru, Hundai, Sizuki and Kia were all in the small hall off kind of hidden and not getting a large share of the crowd. Again here we saw a lot of Asian and Indian people looking for a good deal. Please don’t kill me for writing what I saw and being honest about it. These cars are known as price leaders and they offer a good deal and some offer good quality. A lot of people have commented on how far Hundai has come in the past 10 years from the superglue era and you can see it. But I’m still not ready to buy one.

8. Volkswagen - They used the same display from last year but the more I hear about these cars the less I care about the design and the less I trust them. They are the Chevrolet of Europe. Not good quality cars, and lots of mechanical problems. We don’t even stop to look at the bugs anymore.

9. Audi- some pretty cars but nothing I can afford. The A4 and A6 and A8 are always crowded to see but you never see that many on the road in Chicago. They did one cool thing with the displays, they had really tall panels with the car names on them that you could see over the droves of the crowd. With so many people there having directions or signs above crowd height (pillars or tall signs) is a great way to get people where they are going. The R8 is also great looking, but not exactly affordable. I will just watch Jeremy Clarkson burn track with it on TV thanks.

10. I know I am forgetting someone – Mazda -Yes we missed Mazda completely and their wenkel. I have been seeing a ton of CX-9s on the road. pretty Slick. Mitsubishiby contrast has lost all of it’s cool hit making music commercials and Eclipse fame of the 90′s with boring boxy cars and a superpowered gollum creature named EVO. They put out a super edition of the eclipse for the show, but I don’t think it was one that people were very interested in.

11. There was also some activity around Nissan as always. The Z is still beautiful and kids love it. Even in Orange. You know a car is going to sell if 7 year old boys run up to it and want to climb in. They have also done well in providing very economical and cute basic cars for a good value price. I have seen a lot of Murranos on the market (that car redefined the crossover SUV) and the new Versa. And this year is their 50th anniversary. Go Nissan. Infiniti is as always beautiful but unreachable. The cars are elegant and powerful but $40K plus is not my market. G36 is new and G35 is still cool. They have a new EX (a fancy Rouge) out too which is smaller and lower to the ground than a car. I would like something like this but alas can’t afford it. People still appreciate the Altima, Maxima and Sentra which all look pretty much the same these days. It’s just whether you want small, medium or large. The Altima Coupe is also pretty cool. Almost cooler than the 2dr Accord. The GT-R was a crowd favorite and everyone was dreaming of driving that even though no one could really afford to.

12. Porsche- there weren’t a lot if ultra luxury cars there this year, we did not see Astin Martin or Bentley or RR or the Maserati Quattroporte (which looks like a Buick LaCrosse). But then again we aren’t buying them either, so no big loss. We made a  point to sit in a Porsche just because we could and will most likely never own one. There were just as many kids there with dads looking at idolizing a Porsche for life as there were Corvettes. I guess it depends on what your dad does for a living.

Overall the show was exhausting and fulfilling at the same time. I look forward to next year’s Chicago Auto Show!