PICKUPS IN SPOTLIGHT AT DETROIT AUTO SHOW
New Silverado and Ram fight it out with revived Ranger in lucrative truck market
DETROIT If you’re shopping for a new truck, get set for the latest offerings from the Big Three later this year.
At the first major auto show of the season, the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit — which wraps up on Sunday — Chevrolet showed off its new Silverado, Fiat Chrysler took the wraps off its new Ram, and Ford brought back the mid-sized Ranger pickup.
Saskatchewan has one of the highest ownership rates of truck in Canada, so it will be interesting to see what truck buyers here think of these newest models.
Pickups are high-volume sellers and provide high profit levels, so a lot is riding on the success of these three new trucks.
Both the Silverado and the
Ram have been chasing the Ford F-150 in the sales race for years.
The new Silverado and Ram are both lighter, yet are larger, stronger and offer increased hauling capacity. They are also offering higher levels of trim inside. They are more aerodynamic up front, and new styling touches include narrower headlights.
Each also offers unique features.
The new Silverado, introduced as Chevrolet marks 100 years of making trucks, is available with a power up/down tailgate. It also has new fuel-saving technology, and offers a new six-cylinder diesel engine. In all, there will be six engine and transmission combinations, and more variety of trim levels.
The redone Ram, the first since 2009, offers a 2.0 litre 4-cylinder turbo engine. Inside, there’s a huge Tesla-like 12-inch touchscreen. There’s more legroom inside — enough so that even the back seat can recline. Also available is a 19-speaker sound system.
While the Silverado and Ram brag about being longer, with more room inside, Ford is taking a different approach by bringing back a smaller truck, the Ranger. It’s a familiar name, because the Ranger was around for decades before production stopped in 2011. However, the Ranger remained popular in many other countries, and Ford figures it’s a good time to bring back a truck that’s smaller than its topselling F-150. The Ranger will go up against the Chevy Canyon and GMC Colorado. Ford thinks this new Ranger might appeal to urbanites who want a truck for recreational pursuits on weekends — say, to go camping or to haul trail bikes — but don’t want a full-sized truck, which is harder to manoeuvre in cities, like going into parkades. Of course, there will also be rural people looking for a smaller truck who will be attracted to the new Ranger.
There was more than trucks at the show, and among the other debuts:
The restyled Jeep Cherokee gets a new, 2.0-litre in-line 4-cylinder engine.
Hyundai displayed the restyled Veloster, with more prominent wheel arches for a tougher look.
Kia introduced the new version of the Forte, which is larger and gets better mileage.
Volkswagen revealed its new cheaper and larger Jetta, and a GT version of the Passat.
And there were also some concept cars on display, which is a way for automakers to find out the public’s reaction to their latest ideas.
The Lexus LF-1 Limitless is a luxury crossover, which combines the room of a crossover with top-end luxury and performance aimed at the MercedesBenx GLS and BMW X-7.
The Nissan Xmotion (pronounced “Crossmotion”) has some rugged design cues that could end up as part of the next generation Rogue or Pathfinder. Inside, wood trim is taken to a whole new level with a dashboard and console cut from a single Japanese cedar tree.
The Infiniti Q Inspiration features a spacious interior and a touch screen for each of the four bucket seats.
This year’s version of the Detroit show is somewhat smaller than those of previous years. I have attended this show five times, and this is certainly the smallest one I’ve seen. There are fewer introductions and there was just one — the new Jeep Cherokee — on the second day.
Some automakers — including Porsche and Jaguar Land Rover — skipped this year’s show.
The Los Angeles Auto Show, held in November, is becoming a more popular place for automakers to show off their newest products. That’s also true of the New York Auto Show in March and April. And each year, more automakers are showing off their latest gadgets at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in early January.
However, the Detroit show remains a big deal. This city is the centre of the auto industry in North America, so this is the auto show that bosses, friends and families of those in the auto industry show up at.
Even as times change, the car show in Detroit in January is still huge and influential.