Well I'm back from Detroit, and it was a bit of a mixed bag. Some ups, some downs, but overall amazing.
First impressions you ask? Nowhere near as relaxed as the LA show was. Lots of (over)zealous security, and odd decisions (GM stand anyone? more on that later) and absents, but one thing sticks out ... the lack of green cars.
I'm the first to love sports cars, trucks, land yachts and the likes ... but let's face it, the future is in hybrid or electric cars and not big bore pushrod V8s. LA was chock-full of green vehicles (fuel cell, flexfuel, hybrid, electric, ...you name it, it was there!), Detroit had all but a few. The Chevy Volt, Toyota FT-HS and Honda FCX were the sole representatives (or at least advertised as such ... you reeeally had to look for the hydrogen on the Ford Airstream), other than the usual production hybrid or flex fuel vehicles. This show had definitely an early 1900s red-brick and steel industry feel to it, if you catch my drift. The fellow holding a "it's easy to pretend to be green" sign outside the Cobo Hall was probably not wrong ... although he would have looked like a fool in LA.

It wasn't all bad though.
The new Lexus IS-F, as conventional as it can be among concept cars from Jaguar, Toyota or Acura, looked absolutely mindblowing in its blue robe and wide body.
The mercedes stand was great, a giant ice rink (partially covered with a carpet and sofas) perfect place to cool down (literally) at the end of the day, with unobstructed view of the Ocean Drive concept.
I can't think of a concept car that did not look great. Most had silly names, but the Acura takes the cake ... the Advanced Sport Coupe Concept? I can't even remember if it's the right name. Same for Jag or Toyota, XC-F? CX-F?FX-C? FT-HS? FL-TH? FA-LFL? Falafel? WTF? I'll have to look it up ...


- Julien