Detroit marks revival

The cars – glitzy and sedate, grand and green – were back in the spotlight in recent days as Detroit celebrated the industry’s comeback from gruelling recession at its annual auto show.

Excitement was clearly in the air at the industry’s premier North American extravaganza, with US and foreign makers confidently launching new models and predicting growing markets in the United States and the big emerging economies – albeit with a cautious eye still on troubled Europe.

US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood opened this year’s show cheering the industry’s future, three years after two top US automakers, General Motors and Chrysler, nearly died in the economic crash and the industry lost hundreds of thousands of jobs.

“As you look at these breath-taking vehicles, I ask you to remember they represent more than creative thinking and design,” Mr LaHood said. “They represent American factories bustling and humming, American workers churning out cars, and American families earning pay cheques again.”

All three of Detroit’s carmakers are now back in profit, and last year regained market share from their arch-rivals, the Japanese producers, for the first time since 1988.

The Japanese were set back by the interruption of manufacturing from last year’s earthquake-tsunami disaster.

The deepest recession since the 1930s, and the controversial government rescues of the two – the third, Ford, barely scraped by – had held a cloud over the Detroit show since 2008, while the cars themselves got less attention.

But after a radical revamp of their product offerings and two years of steady growth in US sales, the Detroit Three are ready to fight, not only to hang onto their lead, but to expand it.

Ford opened with an all-new Fusion, unrecognisable from the past, which targets the dominance of Toyota’s Camry in the all-important if not sexy mid-sized market.

The four-door, estimated to cost around $22,000 (BD8,294), comes in gasoline, hybrid and plug-in hybrid versions, all cloaked in distinctively European styling – done in America.

“What we wanted was a car that looked visually like a premium car,” said J Mays, Ford vice president for design. “I am proud that we came up with a world-class design.”

Chrysler revived its clunky Dodge Dart of years ago in a small sling-back four-door entry-level car ($16,000) that will please young people hoping for a little sportiness from Chrysler’s Italian owner Fiat.

And GM’s Chevrolet unveiled two concept cars – the Code 130R and the Tru 140S – aimed at the younger market with a little more money than the Dart.

There was plenty on offer at the higher end of the market, with Porsche’s brand new Carrera, BMW’s shake-up of the 3 series, and all new Mercedes-Benz SL roadster which celebrates the classic car’s 60th anniversary.

The premium class makers were all confident that luxury car sales would continue to grow faster than the market overall.
Even with the confidence – which extended as well to opportunities in the major emerging markets like China, India and Russia – automakers recognised that competition was going to harden.