Ford Motor Co. President and CEO Alan Mulally (L) and Ford Motor Executive Chairman Bill Ford stand next to a Ford Focus electric during press preview days of the North American International Auto show in Detroit, Michigan January 10, 2011.
No pickups fell out the ceiling here today, as in past years. No car company president did a cooking demonstration with a celebrity chef, either, as in past years. We didn't see minivans leapfrog across the stage, nor did skaters perform on a small ice rink, as in past years here at the North American International Auto Show.
Instead, Detroit's auto show, at least after the first day, was about Detroit's car companies. The three of them, Ford, General Motors and Chrysler, let the products do the talking. The showmanship, the gimmicks, the big extravaganzas which had become part and parcel of this auto show, were absent. The American car industry has a focus on making vehicles that was sorely missing for decades - right up until Ford Motor flirted with bankruptcy in the middle of the last decade, and GM and Chrysler went bankrupt, period.
"The old GM?" replied GM North American president Mark Reusss, in response to a question. "The old GM, it was killed, and I don't mind saying so. Now we're about the destruction of mediocrity and the pursuit of excellence."
Executives at Chrysler had the same story. Reid Bigland, president of Chrysler Canada, said no one at his company has a chip on his or her shoulder, built up there as the result of incessant criticism. Most of the criticism was deserved mind you.
More importantly, "If you have a chip on your shoulder, somebody is going to knock it off," he said. "We don't have time for that."
Here's what we know about Detroit's auto makers, and I'm focusing on them here because, after all, this is Detroit's show: U.S. auto makers gained market share from foreign-based brands for the first time in seven years during 2010, according to the Detroit News. Ford, GM and Chrysler could each claim ownership of one of the three best-selling trucks in the U.S., too. Ford and Chrysler gained market share last year, while GM lost a little bit of share despite being reduced to four brands from eight.
Detroit's auto makers collectively are not entirely back, not yet. But the hubris and the utter self-absorption appear to be gone, replaced by the focus that comes with nearly becoming extinct. Of the three, Ford, I believe, is furthest along in creating a powerhouse global car company, though Reuss begged to differ on the product development front.
"I think we're about five years ahead (of Ford) on global architectures," he said of GM's lead on Ford in creating the global underpinnings for new models - a sharing of parts and engineering critical for spinning off profits in the viciously competitive auto industry.
Reuss didn't stage a stunt to prove his point, either. He just spoke with conviction. This year's Detroit show really is about Detroit and its products. It's taken a few decades to get here, but as they say, better late than never.