Detroit Auto Show opens as industry pares back splashy debuts and leans on test tracks
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Monthly Digital Subscription
$1 per week for 24 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $4.00 plus GST every four weeks. After 24 weeks, price increases to the regular rate of $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
Monthly Digital Subscription
$4.99/week*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $16.99 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $23.99 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Auto Show returns this week, offering an opportunity to take a peek at the cars of today and tomorrow and also go for a spin.
The annual car-fest at a Detroit convention hall features a lineup of 40-plus vehicle brands. At last year’s show, organizers say attendees took more than 100,000 rides in them.
“That’s what makes the Detroit Auto Show different,” show chairman Todd Szott said. “You can get up close, talk to the people behind the brands and actually experience the vehicles.”
The Detroit Auto Show once was the place for new model debuts, glitzy displays and scores of journalists from across the globe. Automakers since have determined that new models can make a bigger splash when they are unveiled to a digital audience on a day when they don’t have to share the spotlight with rivals.
President Donald Trump visited the Detroit area Tuesday afternoon, touring a Ford plant in Dearborn that makes the ultra-popular F-150 pickup truck before delivering remarks during a meeting of the Detroit Economic Club.
The president touted his tariff policy, telling business leaders at a casino-hotel that “our workers are thriving.”
“And our auto industry is returning to the country where we all began, and where it all began,” Trump said.
While the Detroit Auto Show has scaled back dramatically from its heyday, it still drew 275,000 attendees a year ago. And it is leaning into interactivity.
Two tracks offer attendees ride-along experiences in internal combustion engine, hybrid and electric vehicles, while the Camp Jeep and Ford Bronco Built Wild Experience give visitors a chance to climb into the vehicles and tackle some makeshift “mountains.”
The show gets underway Tuesday evening with vehicle announcements from Ford Motor Co. as part of the media and industry preview days. On Wednesday, the annual North American Car, Truck and Utility Vehicle of the Year will be revealed. The show opens to the public Saturday and runs through Jan. 25.
Visitors can check out displays under the Alfa Romeo, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Ford, GMC, Jeep, Kia, Lincoln, Ram, Subaru and Toyota nameplates.
Speakers include Republican U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno from Ohio, and a pair of Democrats — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Pete Buttigieg, the Transportation Secretary under President Joe Biden.