We now have seen the car companies set a "tone" for the year in cars. It has a ring to it and that ring is optimism, tempered as it is by the awful year that was 2009. Amid all the spin and the blather, the hype and the promise, here are the Top 10 Things I Learned at the Detroit Auto Show -- things you might have missed as you were blinded by the glitz and all.
1. General Motors no longer cares about winning the sales race
The focus at GM, said vice-chairman Bob Lutz is profitability, not sales volume.
''Being number one is not our obligation any more. ''I would much rather have a healthy car company that delivers a good profit for its shareholders,'' Lutz said, in response to talk about how Toyota overtook GM in 2008 in global sales.
Lutz, in fact, told the Japanese Kyodo News, ''Being the world's biggest always leads to stupid behaviour.'' Without being specific, it's clear Lutz was referring to Toyota's decision to make pickups in Texas; assign (closed) plant workers to training and community work on full pay; and build a new plant in Mississippi to make large SUVs, then not fit it with auto production equipment.
Toyota lost billions in 2009 and suffered the largest product recall in history in the U.S.
2. The Italians plan to help Chrysler sex-up its new products
Chrysler, and its managing partner Fiat, didn't bother with a press conference to show off new models here at the show. But the Fiat-Chrysler partnership was clearly in evidence.
It started with the models - scores of them, all gorgeous, standing side-by-side with the Dodge, Jeep, Chrysler, Fiat, Maserati, Ram, Ferrari vehicles. Fiat and Chrysler also hinted at some ideas for the future: the Delta hatchback from Fiat's tony European Lancia brand wore a Chrysler brand nose and grille. Lancia and Chrysler might end up bosom buddies.
In a roundtable meeting with the motoring press, Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne said that in a few years, the product lines for Chrysler and Lancia will be married.
"On Chrysler-Lancia, these are two brands that will share completely a common destiny," Marchionne said. "They will share completely their product portfolio."
As for the models in their thigh-high leather go-go boots and shimmering miniskirts, Chrysler-Fiat officials said they were not trying to "sex it up" at all. And the truth is, that is exactly what Fiat does at auto shows in Europe. Nonetheless, Chrysler's products themselves could us a little more sex appeal and if that's what Fiat has in mind, more power to the Italian auto maker.
Oh, and did you notice that Marchionne has promised to repay government borrowing (about US$14.5 billion from Canada and the U.S.) by 2014, three years ahead of schedule. The plan is to double Chrysler sales globally and integrate Fiat and Chrysler products.
3. Honda bristles at Hyundai claims, emphasizing that it's a green-tinged auto company
In a nasty little wakeup call, South Korea's Hyundai Motor said in December that it had topped Honda in terms of its fleet-wide fuel economy average. Hyundai cited U.S. Environmental Protection Agency data: Hyundai at 30.1 mpg in 2009 versus 29.7 mpg for Honda.
So Honda used Detroit to fight back. The auto maker unveiled a new two-seat hybrid, the CR-Z, to go on sale in a few months. And Honda said it is accelerating engine improvements in the face of the fuel-efficiency challenge posed by Hyundai and many others.
It won't be easy. Toyota Motor is expanding its hybrid lineup and Ford Motor and GM used Detroit to tout more efficient engines and other "green" technologies.
Honda President Takanobu Ito said he's pushing company engineers to focus on engine improvements.
"Of course we want the most efficient engines," Ito told reporters. "Competitors are catching up and I feel pressure from this. I don't want to lose out."
Honda types suggested the company will have more to say about this very soon.
4. Daimler and Mercedes-Benz on the attack
Daimler AG, the world's second- largest maker of luxury vehicles through its Mercedes-Benz brand, is going on the "green" offensive, seeing this as a way to challenge BMW AG for leadership in premium vehicles.
"We will attack this year definitely," development chief Thomas Weber told reporters. "There is no reason why we should look to others. They have to look to us; we're setting the benchmark."
Daimler plans to use half of this year's 4.4 billion euros in research and development spending on green technology, according to reports.
Full-year sales by Daimler's Mercedes-Benz Cars division, which includes the Smart minicar brand, fell 10 per cent to 1.13 million cars and sport-utility vehicles. Sales at BMW, including Mini and Rolls-Royce models, dropped 10 per cent to 1.29 million vehicles.
To make the race tighter, Mercedes is targeting BMW's lead in reducing fuel emissions. A new transmission will improve S-Class efficiency and start-stop technology - it turns off the engine at traffic lights to save fuel - will help, too.
In Europe, Mercedes will add an electric-powered version of the A-Class compact in 2010. The carmaker is already producing a limited number of two electric models: a fuel cell-powered B-Class compact and a battery-driven Smart.
BMW is also testing electric vehicles, with about 600 battery-powered Mini. Tests of an electric-powered BMW 1 Series, called Active E, will start in 2011.
The gloves are off
5. Ford's big plan: get small-car buyers to pay more
One of the big hits in Detroit has been Ford Motor's 2012 Focus, shown here for the first time. CEO Alan Mulally and his team are betting that this sleekly styled compact will be a hot-seller and that buyers will load theirs up with expensive technologies. In the end, Ford plans to collect higher than traditional prices for its small cars.
"Ford will have to condition the American car buyer into thinking smaller is better, or this business model will not work," said John Wolkonowicz at IHS Global Insight. "It's a huge challenge."
Mulally told reporters that Ford's restructuring is about done, with Ford having cut its North American workforce in half and union workers accepting a new wage scale and an revamped health care structure - one that takes health care costs in the U.S. off Ford's balance sheet. Ford has closed plants and retooled others to make small cars like the Focus. Ford posted profits in last year's second and third quarters, and avoided government bailouts.
Now it's time to see if Ford can sell small cars at a profit. By 2012, Ford is targeting world-wide sales of 2 million for the Focus and its global variants, which will share more than 80 percent of the same parts, said product development boss Derrick Kuzak. Ford also expects the Focus and the subcompact Fiesta to produce significant revenue and be profitable.
6. Green means zero emissions at Nissan
Nissan figures that the only way it can unseat Toyota from its leadership position in "green" vehicles is to win with zero-emission electric vehicles. So that's why Nissan is putting so much emphasis on its Leaf EV, which goes on sale in December in the U.S. and in 2011 in Canada.
Nissan's plant in Smyrna, Tenn., is capable of building up to 150,000 Leafs a year when production starts late in 2012. The first Leafs will come from a plant in Japan. Company officials say there is no point in taking on Toyota with hybrids; Toyota owns that space. But a successful zero emissions car, the Leaf, changes everything.
For the record, Nissan says the Leaf will be competitively priced with other compact cars.
7. Hyundai now out for styling leadership
Hyundai had a great year in 2009, growing market share in Canada and the United States, winning quality accolades and startling the competition with creative marketing. The next step is design.
Hyundai thinks its new 2011 Sonata sedan and the revamped Tucson crossover are eye-catching designs that will make buyers do a double-take, while hitting hard at competitive models from Toyota and Honda.
"The basic idea is a car that looks like a premium car, but not at a premium price," says Phil Zak, Hyundai's head of U.S. design. "We're looking to pull people out of Camrys and Accords and give them something different."
The Seoul-based carmaker still lags behind Toyota and Honda in terms of brand value, according to analysts, but the race is clearly on. Hyundai benefits from a weak Korean currency, too, while Toyota and Honda must contend with a very strong yen.
Hyundai's design language is called "fluidic sculpture." The idea is to make vehicles that hint at being fast and sexy, much like the best models from Europe.
8. Ford has big plans for hybrids and electric vehicles
Nancy Gioia, Ford Motor's director of global electrification, says "green" cars are core models at her company. Ford, in fact, expects between 10 per cent and 25 per cent of vehicle sales will come from some form of hybrid or electric vehicle by 2020 in North America.
Ford's electric vehicle strategy includes gas-electric hybrids, plug-in hybrids and all-electric vehicles, though basic hybrids will dominate sales. Cars like the current Fusion hybrid cost less than all-electric vehicles and they don't require a charging infrastructure.
Putting meat on the bones of its plans, Ford said it will assemble a next-generation gas-electric hybrid and a plug-in hybrid at a Michigan plant starting in 2012. Ford previously announced it would build an all electric car based on the Ford Focus compact car at that plant starting in 2011.
9. Best looking: GMC Granite and Audi A8
Proving that stumpy can also be sexy, the GMC Granite won the EyesOn Design Award for Best Concept Vehicle here. The Granite was designed by the California studio of General Motors. It's a compact SUV that GM calls a "tool for urban living."
Meanwhile, the new Audi A8 won the EyesOn Design Award for Best Production Vehicle.
The two cars could not be more unalike.
10. Next from Toyota: the family Prius
Toyota Motor has conceded that in the minds of many consumers, Prius = hybrid. So rather than fight it, Toyota will build on the popularity of its Prius hybrid by creating whole family of Prius cars. Joining the family will be a gas-electric compact based on the FT-CH concept car that it unveiled here in Detroit.
By far the world's best-selling hybrid is the Prius, accounting for more than half of the 530,000 hybrids that the Japanese automaker sold in 2009. But Prius will not become another stand-alone brand, like Toyota's Lexus and Scion brands. The plan is to develop a family of cars to take advantage of the Prius' cachet, though Toyota types are being sketchy on providing details.
Finally, a dishonourable mention: Auto makers in the U.S. recalled 16.4 million vehicles in 2009, the highest annual tally since 2005, said the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration during auto show week.
Toyota Motor led the way with 4.87 million vehicles recalled in nine campaigns -- the first time the Japanese automaker has led the industry in total recalls. Ford was second, recalling 4.5 million vehicles in eight campaigns.
Among major automakers, only Honda Motor reported a decline in vehicles recalled in 2009 over the previous year. Overall, automakers launched 492 auto recalls last year, the lowest number of campaigns since 2006.
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