Click here to view photos from the New York International Show, and check back later for more from the show.
NEW YORK – General Motors and Chrysler put on their best brave faces here at the New York International Auto Show, but Ford Motor came out guns blazing, determined to separate itself from the other two Detroit-based auto makers.
Ford now has a more tightly honed message than I've ever seen in 20 years of covering the auto industry. The Ford people keep repeating over and over and over again that they get it – that the products matter.
If Ford is ever going to break from the Detroit pack, if Ford ever hopes to get away from the kind of deep discounting that has become commonplace for all three Detroit auto makers, the new models coming in the next year must live up to the hype.
We'll find out soon enough. Within the next year, 45 per cent of what you see in a Ford showroom today will be replaced by something new.
The Taurus gets a new design and the EcoBoost direct injection, turbocharged engine. The Fusion also gets a new look and other updates, not to mention a hybrid version. Ford says its hybrid Fusion is the most fuel-efficient midsize car in North America. That boast was painted right onto the side of a 2010 Fusion parked at Ford's stand. The Fiesta subcompact coming next year as a 2011 model was there, too.
And Ford, unlike its Detroit rivals, had an army of senior executives, designers, engineers and marketers here, all available to talk the Ford line. Ford is trying desperately to shape its message and that message boils down to this: “I'm not with stupid.”
That's my own harsh translation, but make no mistake: Ford does not want to be lumped in with GM and Chrysler. Ford is not taking government bailout money, company types say. Bottom line: Ford is not Obama Motors.
One important signal of progress came on the eve of today's first press day. Ford bondholders essentially agreed to take 38 cents on the dollar, chopping nearly $10-billion (U.S.) in automotive debt from Ford's corporate ledger. The debt holders got a combination of cash and equity. This move chopped about $500-million in interest charges from Ford's annual costs.
Cynics will say that the debt holders are taking what they can. Optimists will say that by taking equity, the bondholders are showing faith in Ford's future. The truth will be known in less than a year when we see how the market responds to Ford's product barrage.
GM and Chrysler, meanwhile, had little to show and few people to talk about the future. GM's GMC brand showed the made-in-Canada Terrain, which of course is the GMC version of the Chevrolet Equinox. It's a bold design and the four-cylinder engine gets great fuel economy. But its very presence begs the question: Why not just sell only the Equinox and scrap the Terrain? Why does GM even need the GMC brand?
GM, in its rejected restructuring plan, said GMC is a core brand, along with Buick, Cadillac and Chevy. I'm not so sure. I firmly believe GM needs just two brands in North America – Chevy and Cadillac. The rest merely waste precious and dwindling resources.
Canadian Susan Docherty, however, thinks differently and she was here bravely making her case. She heads up GMC, Pontiac and Buick at GM. Her point is that these three brands together can make a serious contribution to GM's results. She also said that all the senior leadership at GM is feverishly working to re-fashion the rejected restructuring plan. The clock is ticking on the U.S. Government's 60-day deadline.
Over at Chrysler, head designer Ralph Gilles, another Canadian, talked up the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee. This completely reinvented Grand Cherokee won't go on sale for at least another year, but Chrysler decided to show the production version now as a way to prove to skeptics that the company is still capable of creating all-new products despite reports that say Chrysler has completely gutted its engineering and product development ranks.
The new Grand Cherokee is quite a stunning work. It's bigger than the current vehicle, but looks smaller. The interior is a dramatic improvement too. Fiat just might be interested in this SUV. Fiat Grand Cherokee, anyone?
A few other odds and ends:
Land Rover has given its lineup a facelift and improved its power trains. But the bigger news came from managing director Phil Popham. He says Land Rover is now using exactly the same design, engineering and manufacturing processes as Jaguar, therefore better quality results are sure to follow. Jaguar recently finished first in J.D. Power's three-year vehicle dependability study, while Land Rover was at the bottom. The design changes are subtle, mostly at the front end. They help. Land Rover is also going ahead with plans to build a smaller SUV.
Volvo: New design vice-president Peter Horbury is leaving Ford to go back to Volvo. Horbury spent more than a decade at Volvo before leaving to head up Ford design in North America. Many are speculating that he's back at Volvo to help boost interest as Ford officials roam the world trying to peddle its Swedish subsidiary.
Subaru: Last year Subaru sold nearly 20,000 cars in Canada, an all-time record. Not bad in a year when almost all the other car companies suffered big sales declines. Here, Subaru is showing the 2010 Legacy that goes on sale in late summer, along with the new Outback. The new Legacy/Outback is bigger, has a cleaner design and better fuel economy. Subaru expects to improve sales this year, despite a weak market, and the Legacy/Outback is critical in that effort.
Click here to view photos from the New York International Show, and check back later for more from the show.
