Concours classic car show for ‘25 is canceled
Another automotive tradition in Detroit just hit the reset button.
The Detroit Concours, a classic car show with roots stretching back 45 years, to the 1979 Meadow Brook Concours d’Elegance, is taking 2024 off. Its return in 2025 isn’t assured, but Hagerty, the automotive lifestyle firm that owns it and two other leading classic car shows, is evaluating new dates, locations and a general reboot.
The show relocated from a golf course at the Saint John’s Resort in Plymouth to the Detroit Institute of Arts museum on Woodward Avenue in Detroit’s Cultural Center in 2022.
The goal was to make the show, which attracts classic cars of all types and eras, more a part of Detroit’s culture and history than the rolling greens of a suburban resort. Attendance at the new venue has been less than impressive, however.
The show initially moved from Plymouth in July to Detroit in September in part to create synergies with the North American international Auto Show, which also moved to September 2022, after a pause for the pandemic.
The Detroit auto show is also taking 2024 off, and moving back to its longtime dates in January.
Party at the river
Hagerty will concentrate this year on its Radwood event, a boisterous celebration of 1980s and ’90s cars, clothes and music scheduled for Sept. 14 at Hart Plaza on the Detroit riverfront.
The Detroit Concours’ future may become clear later. Hagerty also owns classic car shows on Amelia Island, Florida, and in Greenwich, Connecticut. The Traverse Citybased company has been in growth mode as it evolves from a family-owned insurer of vin
BlueOval Battery Park Michigan, and BlueOval SK joint venture battery plants in Tennessee and Kentucky.
The creation of the BlueOval City campus, Ford’s new advanced auto production complex that includes the Tennessee Electric Vehicle Center assembly plant, is progressing. In addition to paint shop and vehicle assembly equipment, installation is also underway for nearly 4,000 tons of stamping equipment that will produce the sheet metal stampings for Ford’s next electric truck. Ford plans to begin customer deliveries of the new truck in 2026.
Design work continues on future EVs, including a flexible small and affordable EV platform by a so-called "skunkworks" team in California led by former Tesla engineer Alan Clarke.
Hybrid vehicles achieve efficiency by using both an internal combustion engine (ICE) and an electric motor.
Ford is uniquely (and strongly) positioned, while GM is not
Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting for AutoForecast Solutions, said, "During this transitional period, it's helpful to have the flexible platform that Ford has — with a range of powertrain options that cover the market better."
He noted that neither General Motors nor Stellantis offers hybrid versions of their fullsize trucks, which means they risk losing market share as the industry evolves. Consumer buying habits and studies show that people are more comfortable transitioning from ICE to hybrid before going all-electric.
GM was moving to implement a full-electric lineup, expecting it would help it in both sales and stock performance, but the buying public is just not ready to make the full move as quickly as the automaker planned, Fiorani said.
Stellantis is also planning to unveil new electric and electrified vehicles this year.
Both GM and Stellantis reported sales dips for the first quarter, while Ford beat the industry average. GM said in January that it plans to bring back hybrid vehicles to North America in response to the growing demand.
"We're going to see a lot of change in the market over the next five or 10 years — essentially two lifecycles of vehicle production — and the most nimble automakers will thrive, leaving the rest to scramble for the remains," Fiorani said.
Even Tesla, a longtime Wall Street darling and electric vehicle leader, is struggling with disruption, he said. "Their plan for world domination is showing cracks."
Ford builds out EV plan with tweaks
Ford said it will continue to build out "an advanced industrial system to produce its nextgeneration electric vehicles, including greenfield construction and conversion of existing assembly plants."
Ford continues investing in electric vehicles, including a small vehicle designed to challenge Chinese automakers.
In the first three months of 2024, Ford’s electric vehicle sales in the U.S. increased by 86% and hybrid sales rose 42% compared with the same period a year ago.
“We are committed to scaling a profitable EV business, using capital wisely and bringing to market the right gas, hybrid and fully electric vehicles at the right time,” Ford CEO Jim Farley said in the news release.