High performance sports cars to dominate 2014 Detroit auto show
SO-CALLED green cars — electric vehicles, hybrids and hydrogen fuel cells — are set to be heavily overshadowed at this week’s Detroit show by sports cars, in a broad spectrum of sizes, shapes and prices, from Ford’s redesigned 2015 Mustang to Kia Motors’ zippy GT4 Stinger concept.
The annual event, officially called the North American International Auto Show, attracts more than 750,000 members of the public to Motor City, along with over 5,000 journalists and industry executives.
Five years ago, during the depths of the US auto industry’s recession, “excess went out of fashion,” industry consultant Lincoln Merrihew, of Millward Brown Digital, as auto companies parked their performance models to focus on greener technologies.
Now that the economy has rebounded and automakers are redefining performance as a combination of speed, safety and efficiency, “that stigma is starting to fade” he said, “and performance cars are OK to buy again.”
General Motors last night unveiled its new 2015 Canyon pickup, which executives are counting on being a “true conquest machine” that will attract full-size truck owners from rival brands.