While Gov. John Kasich’s presidential campaign will have him in Nevada today, Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor will substitute for him at what had become his annual pilgrimage to the Detroit auto show.
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The auto industry’s premier promotional event of the year – the North American International Auto Show in Detroit – kicks off with two days of media events on Monday.
“There’s threads of just about everything at this year’s show”, said Angus MacKenzie, editor-at-large of Motor Trend.
The industry was in danger of collapse when Obama took office in 2009, but reported a record sales year in 2015. U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to visit the show on January 20th. During an extravagant press conference in the Joe Louis Arena with loudspeakers and a massive video wall, Ford CEO Mark Fields told reporters that he meant to “disrupt” the auto industry with a self-driving vehicle before the tech industry could. Fiat Chrysler’s plug-in hybrid version of the Pacifica is a first for the minivan segment. It’s first chance they’ll have to show their latest wares stateside before they continue the auto show season in Geneva, Beijing, Paris, New York and Los Angeles. Starting Saturday, the public can see 750 cars spread over 17 acres at Detroit’s Cobo Center. Now, the Raptor drops 500 pounds, making this off-road monster faster and more agile, Ford says.
In addition, Mercedes-Benz will introduce its new E-class sedan – one of Benz’s most important vehicles – while Hyundai’s new luxury division, Genesis, will officially unveil its G90 sedan.
Ford, for example, will pull the wraps off a new Fusion midsize sedan, GMC will unveil a revised, slightly smaller Acadia crossover, and Chevrolet will display a slick hatchback version of its compact Cruze sedan. “You’ll be seeing more diversified electriciation in our vehicles”.
Volkswagen’s uncertain journey back into the good graces of United States auto enthusiasts has begun with a stream of apologies and is now moving to announcements of fresh investments on American soil and new products aimed at the market.
“The American market is a healthy market, compared with what we’ve seen over the past 15 years, it’s no longer a market where we were concerned about the sustainability of growth”, Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn said. Although visually very close to the LF-LC concept auto of a year ago, the new LC coupe was at least kept well under wraps until mere moments before it was unveiled. Mercedes will also try to steal the spotlight by revealing its new E class luxury sedan at a party Sunday night.
But lots of cars at the show are taking steps toward autonomy. Audi parent Volkswagen and USA regulators are at an apparent impasse over how to proceed with the expected recall of almost 600,000 “clean diesel” vehicles.
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The outlook for 2016 is optimistic, thanks to the strength of the US economy and low gasoline prices, which are propelling sales of SUVs, pick-up trucks and high-end cars, the kinds of models that generate higher profits for manufacturers.
