Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. Space Industry and Business News .




CAR TECH
Luxury models dazzle Detroit auto show
by Staff Writers
Detroit, Michigan (AFP) Jan 14, 2013


Cadillac shows off their ELR extended-range luxury hybrid, during the media preview at the North American International Auto Show on January 15, 2013 in Detroit, Michigan. The auto show will be open to the public January 19-27. Photo courtesy AFP.

Stand-out styling, performance and luxury were on display Monday as global automakers sought to stake out ground in the high-profit premium car sector at the Detroit auto show.

From an ultrafast Bentley cabriolet to a completely redesigned Corvette, to a clutch of new BMWs and Audis, car makers were confident that lower-volume, higher-margin cars would find buyers in the coming year despite the slow global economy and the recession in Europe.

Auto makers are also increasingly taking aim at younger buyers no longer seen as bound to their parents' brands and -- according to Infiniti chief Johan de Nysschen -- not wedded to the idea that only the Germans get it right.

Despite the slowdown in Europe, manufacturers are optimistic that the rebound in the US market and the still-strong China market will be enough to keep them going.

US sales are expected to rise five to 10 percent in 2013 after jumping 13 percent in 2012, the biggest yearly gain since 1984.

The Detroit Three carmakers are raking in huge profits again after years of painful restructuring and a renewed focus on the product side of their business.

Their Asian and European counterparts are also investing heavily in the United States, as they jostle for position in the highly competitive market amid a slowdown in China and Brazil and the collapse of European demand.

"The product is the best consumers have seen in a long time," Jesse Toprak, an analyst with the automotive site TrueCar.com, told AFP.

In China, the world's largest market, last year's double-digit growth is slowing, but could still hit five to six percent in 2013, according to BMW marketing chief Ian Robertson.

GM's new Corvette was the most hotly anticipated debut of the show.

Dubbed the Stingray, a name Corvette used for its iconic 1963 model, the quintessential 60-year-old American sports car nevertheless had an "Italianate" feel in its complete makeover, its first in eight years, said one auto analyst.

"The soul of our company is sitting right here in Corvette," GM North America president Mark Reuss said.

"This car is the reason I work at GM."

Daimler also offered a sneak peak at an entirely new car, the compact, stylish -- and lower priced -- Mercedes CLA coupe, which is aimed squarely at the youth market.

"The CLA is a style rebel," Mercedes design chief Gordon Wagener said.

US luxury makers Cadillac and Lincoln -- ever-aspiring to the ranks of the German luxe-purveyors -- also unveiled new wares.

Cadillac's electric touring coupe the ELR was a fresh bookend to the ATS gas-engined sedan introduced last year, which pulled in the North American Car of the Year award in this year's Detroit show.

Lincoln showed its MKC, a luxury compact sport utility vehicle billed as a concept car that looked not too far from production.

Luxury wasn't everything: the global battle is still on among the moderately priced cars which make up the bulk of sales, numbers released Monday showed.

Toyota regained the world sales crown lost when the 2011 Japanese tsunami devastated its supplies, as US rival General Motors saw its share of the global market shrink.

The largest US automaker, where sales have been hit by the Europe downturn, fewer fresh offerings and a decision not to chase market share with costly incentives and fleet sales, shrugged off the bad news.

"As I said last year, I didn't necessarily want to be number one in sales as I wanted to be number one in profitability -- that's what we focus on," GM chief Dan Akerson told reporters.

Meanwhile Honda laid out an aggressive goal of boosting its total sales by 50 percent to six million units in 2016.

The Japanese automaker introduced a stylish new "urban SUV" concept car aimed at providing the flexibility, performance and function of a sport utility vehicle in a much smaller package.

Toyota, meanwhile, offered a concept car, the Furia, which seeks to deliver the styling lines and some of the bells and whistles of premium level cars to the humble, long-lived Corolla, to better fend off challenges from low-cost models from South Korean and US producers.

"The Corolla Furia Concept is an early indicator of where our compact car design may lead in the future," said Bill Fay, general manager of the Toyota's US division.

"It blends a heightened emphasis on dramatic design and modern elements of high technology to generate curb appeal that will surprise a lot of people."

.


Related Links
Car Technology at SpaceMart.com






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








CAR TECH
GM says China car sales hit record high in 2012
Shanghai (AFP) Jan 14, 2013
US auto giant General Motors said Monday that its sales in China, the world's biggest car market, hit a record 2.84 million vehicles last year, despite the country's slowing economy. GM's China sales grew 11.3 percent in 2012 from 2011, which recorded the previous record of around 2.55 million vehicles, the company said in a statement. GM's sales growth outpaced China as a whole. A Chine ... read more


CAR TECH
Study reveals ordinary glass's extraordinary properties

Bottom-up approach provides first characterization of pyroelectric nanomaterials

Chemical modules that mimic predator-prey and other behaviors

Government funding for 'super-material'

CAR TECH
TS Receives Funding For SNAP Deployable Satellite Systems Equipment

MUOS Waveform Will Improve Secure Communications Capabilities

DARPA selects SwRI's K-band space crosslink radio for flight development as part of System F6 Program

BAE pulls out of Australian comms tender

CAR TECH
Roscosmos Releases Report On Proton Launch Anomaly

Russia plans replacement for Soyuz rocket

Arianespace's industry leadership will continue with 12 launcher family missions planned in 2013

Arianespace addresses The Insurance Institute of London

CAR TECH
New location system could compete with GPS

Beidou's unique services attractive to Chinese companies

China eyes greater market share for its GPS rival

Researchers told to ward off navigation system interference

CAR TECH
China-owned BOC Aviation says ordering 50 Airbus A320s

Taiwan expecting US-made Apaches: report

China approves second Beijing airport: state media

Turkey postpones order for its first two F-35 fighters

CAR TECH
New biochip technology uses tiny whirlpools to corral microbes

Power spintronics: Producing AC voltages by manipulating magnetic fields

Researchers demonstrate record-setting p-type transistor

Marvell hit with billion-dollar verdict in patent case

CAR TECH
Canada Launches Final Stage of RADARSAT Project

China no longer reliant on satellite image imports

TerraSAR-X image of the month - the coastal cliffs of Christmas Island

Joint Polar Satellite System Common Ground System now serving newest mission

CAR TECH
China pollution anger spills into state media

Beijing choked by third day of hazardous smog

Italy extends emergency powers for Costa shipwreck

Pollution turns Hong Kong harbour from 'fragrant' to foul




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement