The Coolest Cars Detroit Never Built
Concept where car concept are going in the future.
Auto shows are the perfect venue for carmakers to show off not just their newest models, but also their extreme ideas for the cars of the future.
In the 1950s and '60s, concept cars were all about alternative propulsion--vehicles powered by jet engines or even nuclear reactors.
Indeed few concept cars ever make it into production. Styling cues from Ford's 2005 Iosis concept--Ford called it "kinetic design"--are reflected in the newly redesigned Ford Focus, for example.
Ford's group vice president for design, J Mays, wishes that Ford had produced the 2005 GR-1 Shelby concept, an aluminum sports car. But as Ford tumbled into financial troubles, "we were concentrating on everything but sexy sports cars."
The 2007 Ford Interceptor concept was a modern interpretation of an All-American rear-wheel-drive muscle car. "We were well on the path to making a rear-wheel-drive global platform," says Mays. "But the gas crisis happened and that just turned the faucet off."
Likewise, the 2006 Super Chief, a massive, locomotive-inspired pickup featuring extreme interior indulgence, went nowhere.
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Along with the recently introduced Ford Fiesta subcompact, and a new portfolio of small cars from General Motors, the Focus is also a test of whether American carmakers can finally build great small cars profitably.
Ford got an early lift Monday as its Fusion Hybrid sedan was named car of the year and its versatile Transit Connect compact van snagged truck of the year at the Detroit auto show.
Four new cars in particular--the Focus, Fiesta, Chevrolet Cruze and Chevrolet Aveo--"will spell the future profitability of the American industry," predicts IHS Global Insight analyst John Wolkonowicz. "They are premium small cars. As the market is downsizing to comply with new fuel-economy rules, it's going to be necessary for the car companies--if they intend to be profitable--to sell these cars at a premium," he said.
Both GM and Ford say they'll make money on small cars by selling them in huge volumes around the world. Ford, for example, will build up to 10 models on the highly flexible Focus small-car platform, including a compact minivan called the C-MAX. In all, the platform will account for more than 2 million cars annually by 2012, Ford says.
Redesigned for the 2012 model year, it's the flagship of Ford Motor's new small-car lineup in the U.S. and a crucial test of Chief Executive Alan R. Mulally's strategy to develop vehicles that will sell in every market of the world.
Of the hundreds of cars on display this week at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit none has more riding on it than the little Ford Focus.
Along with the recently introduced Ford Fiesta subcompact, and a new portfolio of small cars from General Motors, the Focus is also a test of whether American carmakers can finally build great small cars profitably.
Ford got an early lift Monday as its Fusion Hybrid sedan was named car of the year and its versatile Transit Connect compact van snagged truck of the year at the Detroit auto show.
Four new cars in particular--the Focus, Fiesta, Chevrolet Cruze and Chevrolet Aveo--"will spell the future profitability of the American industry," predicts IHS Global Insight analyst John Wolkonowicz. "They are premium small cars. As the market is downsizing to comply with new fuel-economy rules, it's going to be necessary for the car companies--if they intend to be profitable--to sell these cars at a premium," he said.
Both GM and Ford say they'll make money on small cars by selling them in huge volumes around the world. Ford, for example, will build up to 10 models on the highly flexible Focus small-car platform, including a compact minivan called the C-MAX. In all, the platform will account for more than 2 million cars annually by 2012, Ford says.
Redesigned for the 2012 model year, it's the flagship of Ford Motor's new small-car lineup in the U.S. and a crucial test of Chief Executive Alan R. Mulally's strategy to develop vehicles that will sell in every market of the world.
Of the hundreds of cars on display this week at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit none has more riding on it than the little Ford Focus.
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