2012 North American International Auto Show: Winners & Losers

The 2012 Detroit Auto Show has brought a surprising mix of introductions, considering recession-level auto sales in the United States.  It has once again brought hope to my eyes for the near-future of the automobile.  However, not all the concepts and production cars shown were deserving of being called winners.  Follow the jump for a breakdown of the hot and the not-so-hot entries in this years show.

Production Cars

American automakers were the big winners at the show, as one might expect of a show held in Detroit.  The Mopar team brought a souped up Charger Redline and Chrysler 200 Super S; both were disappointingly lackluster and irrelevant showings at such an important auto show.  Dodge made up for their shortcomings by bringing the new Dodge Dart.  I’ll let Jerry explain more about the well thought-out Dart, but I will say that I’m not a fan of small cars, and yet the Dart has me excited.

Ford showed its stunning new 2013 Fusion, with class leading fuel economy (1.6L EcoBoost with 26/37MPG) and technology (a Hybrid model with 47/44MPG, being bested by a plug-in Energi model with best in class MPGe).  The avant garde design inside and out wowed anybody paying attention.  Given that the Fusion will be sold as the Mondeo in other markets, and that the Mondeo has always been a vehicle with amazing driving dynamics, we expect the Fusion to be very fun to drive.  If you’re in the market for a family sedan, wait it out or you could regret it for years to come.

GM held its own by bringing several new production vehicles, the most exciting among them would be the Cadillac ATS.  Designed to fight the Audi A4 and BMW 3-series, this vehicle is paramount to establishing Cadillac’s credibility as an Euro-fighter.  Whether it succeeds depends on its driving dynamics – we think the styling and wide range of engine options will work out just fine with this class of buyers.  On the other end of the spectrum are the Buick Encore mini-SUV and the Chevrolet Sonic RS hatchback.  Although they target different buyers, they both use similar underpinnings with the same 140HP, 1.4L turbo engine.  Both look poised to make strides in their respective fields, but we don’t think they will revolutionize the industry.

The Koreans also had a good showing with the updated 2013 Hyundai Genesis Coupe and the 2013 Hyundai Veloster Turbo.  The Genesis Coupe brings revised styling along with a new 274HP turbo 4 and a 348HP V6.  The Veloster Turbo introduces a new 1.6L turbo 4-cylinder with 201HP and 194lb-ft of torque, served with 38MPG highway on the side.  All of the figures mentioned above place the pair of Hyundai’s safely at the top of their respective classes.

Volkswagen mysteriously decided to introduce a Jetta gas-electric Hybrid at the show.  We are completely puzzled by this introduction, as the existing Jetta TDI gets better fuel efficiency with less complexity.  In addition, the Jetta Hybrid will probably not be priced any cheaper than a TDI.  Our advice: buy the diesel.

Concept Cars

Sharp readers may have noticed that I said “[The show] has…brought hope…for the near-future of the automobile.”  That’s because I was disappointed by nearly all the concepts shown at the show.  Chrysler brought a 700C minivan concept that looked like a previous generation Nissan Quest.  Speaking of Nissan, they brought a Pathfinder “concept” that looked like an overgrown Murano/RX350 love-child.  It didn’t look bad; however, the switch to unibody construction has me disappointed and concerned – can Nissan afford two 7-seat SUV’s in their lineup (Armada being the other)?

Chevrolet brought a pair of plain jane coupe concepts that were in the 140-150HP range, meaning they were already out-powered by the BRZ/FR-S duo.  Continuing with the out-powered theme, Honda/Acura undoubtedly took the cake in that category.  They brought 4 production-previewing concepts, all of which are already behind the curve.  Seriously, a 400HP Acura NSX line-topping “supercar”?  After half a decade of debate, this is what the NSX concept has turned into?  It might have been less embarrassing for them to show up with a re-badged 412HP Mustang GT.  That was followed up by the 2013 Acura RDX concept.  We’ll let you decide on the styling, but in now-typical Honda fashion, it brings nothing innovative or deserving of praise in any field – styling, drivetrain, technology, etc.  Along the same lines was a 2013 Honda Accord Coupe concept.  The coupe’s overall shape looked much the same as the current Accord, with similar lights and greenhouse.  News came of a brand-new 181HP 2.4L 4 cylinder to replace the current 190HP 2.4L 4 cylinder.  Yes, that is in the correct order – the new engine makes less power than the old one.  I’m puzzled as well…

Finally, the 2013 Acura ILX is the worst of the bunch.  Not only does it do away with the vaunted TSX nameplate, but it’s also not a looker – it steals cues from a Buick!  In addition, it receives with smaller engines and (expected) less horsepower.  We estimate that the range topping model will have 210HP, the base engine coming in at 160-170HP, and the hybrid should have about 130HP (or slightly less than a Prius).  Have they forgotten that the Lexus HS250h, with 187HP, has already proven that luxury hybrids don’t sell?  Oh, and they expect this model to be competitive in a marketplace where 200HP is bare bones entry-level power.  Good luck to them, and for their sake, I hope the ILX is an early April Fools joke.

Photos in this article are courtesy of AutoBlog.