DETROIT AUTO SHOW- Detroit homies pick their favorite vehicles at the show- No wonder the car industry is in trouble!

Agent001 submitted on 01/14/2007 Official AutoSpies Timestamp: 3:38 PM
from: www.detnews.com

[33] user comments | category: Report Cards

Tags: DETROIT AUTO SHOW, Best in Show

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DETROIT AUTO SHOW

Best in Show

DETROIT AUTO SHOW- Detroit homies pick their favorite vehicles at the show- No wonder the car industry is in trouble!

I just can't believe how out of touch the masses in Detroit are!

No wonder everything there is on the brink of disaster!

A panel of 100 readers chose these vehicles as 2007 Detroit News Readers' Choice Award winners:

Selected from more than 2,000 volunteers, the 100 reader-judges toured the show Wednesday and chose winners in categories such as "Sexiest Vehicle," "Most Earth-Friendly" and "Best Value."

Best of Show: Chevy Camaro Convertible
Best Future Fantasy: Mercedes Ocean Drive
Best Family Hauler: Chrysler Town & Country
Best Curves: Lincoln MKR
Plushest Interior: Mercedes Maybach 625
Most Innovative: Jeep Trailhawk
Sexiest Vehicle: Jaguar XKR
Most Earth-Friendly: Chevrolet Volt
Most Luxurious: Rolls-Royce Phantom
Grooviest Wheels: Toyota FT-HS
Most Awesome Off-Road: Jeep Wrangler Rubicon
Best Value: Ford Fusion

Most innovative- Jeep Trailhawk?
Best value- Ford Fusion?
Sexiest vehicle- Jaguar XKR?

Are they crazy?

Man! Are they living in the past or what?

AutoSpies.com message to the Detroit automakers...Run, don't walk out of Detroit and get on the next plane to Southern California!

Hmmm, the Japanese figured that one out 30 years ago. That's why they're all here.

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Rupert - 1/14/2007 5:07:44 PMView My AgentSpace

+1 Boost

how the hell is a trailhawk innovative?
it may be cheap but a ford fusion is just cheap + nasty.
XKR is sexy though...what would be the other sexy vehicle.

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neutral - 1/14/2007 6:09:51 PM

+2 Boost

The Ford Fusion/Mercury Milan IS the best value....hands down. Now that they've been offering standard ABS and side curtain airbags, the only thing missing is stability control. Also, Ford added available GPS to the Fusion and the Milan. A great quality car, with tons of standard options, that is great looking and fun to drive for a good price. Eat it Toyota/Honda.

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cynic - 1/14/2007 6:21:57 PM

+2 Boost

Wow, that's are real "neutral" comment. Anyhow, I had the chance to rent a Milan quite recently. It is a nice car, however, refinement and build quality are not up to Toyota and Honda specs. It was the attention detail that I most thought was lacking in comparison. I think that this is the major complaint that I have with many American cars. Look good on paper, look good in person, but the execution is wrong.

neutral - 1/15/2007 1:18:44 AM

0 Boost

Wow, who are you to criticize me for my "neutral" name when your's is "cynic". Seriously, what other car can you get for as cheap as the Fusion with the standard options and build quality that it has. It's not even me, Consumer Reports (which generally despises anything American) said is was at least as good if not better than the Camry. Ive driven a 2006 Fusion and liked it (although GPS would have been great).

99gs400 - 1/15/2007 9:59:57 AM

+1 Boost

^^^^^^^^^^ why am i not suprise this is a list from american trailer trash ? people with no standards !!
Invite them to Jerry Springer and let them tell their stories .

Magjuan - 1/14/2007 7:08:42 PM

+2 Boost

I agree hands down! Come on people, look at this list of cars. Not knocking any of these vehicles but not the usual suspects Id expect on a best of list. In fact, if someone were to hand me this list of cars and ask me what I think the list is for, I'd probably think something like worse/best crash test. Probably fitting because many of the list are wrecks1 lol! j/k

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RefuG - 1/14/2007 7:36:28 PM

+1 Boost

You have to look at this list with a Detroit's view point. Of course they're gonna pick some of these vehicles, reason being is due to many of these cars being made in Detroit.

I mean you're not gonna see very many American made cars, if any, as favorites at tha Tokyo show.

G

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Matthew1 - 1/14/2007 7:48:14 PM

+3 Boost

Actually, this list is very good.

'Value' does not have to equate to 'smallest panel gaps'. Remember that.

And the XKR is stunningly sexy.

Ok, so the awards are a bit lame, ("Grooviest wheels"?) but overall this list looks absolutely fine to me.

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spadog55 - 1/14/2007 8:29:51 PM

+5 Boost

The real problem is the writer of this story using the word "homies". Isnt he a fat 60 something white guy?

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EL34 - 1/14/2007 8:33:10 PM

+3 Boost

The Ford Fusion and the Buick Lucerne are both good bread and butter cars.

I pick the Audi Q7 V12 TDI.

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neutral - 1/15/2007 1:34:36 AM

+1 Boost

I wish GM had a site like www.blueovalnews.com so that we could all see GM's quarterly statistics. I'd like to see how many of each car GM sells. Also, IMO, GM needs to drop the 3800 series and replace all 3800's with the 3900 that has Active Fuel Management.

S4cabriofoxone - 1/14/2007 9:36:55 PMView My AgentSpace

+2 Boost

The XKR is stunningly beautiful... I completely agree.

Fusion is questionable, and I don't know much about the Trailhawk (FT-HS probably should've won that one), but is there much of a difference between "Plushest Interior" and "Most Luxurious"?

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S4cabriofoxone - 1/15/2007 1:06:39 AMView My AgentSpace

0 Boost

Oh and, for best family hauler, I would've picked Q7 TDI, no questions asked. The car was designed for families- and there's nothing in writing that says a "family hauler" is specifically a minivan. The Q7 V12 TDI is one of the most beautiful SUVs ever (at least in very lightly disguised concept form), has an opulent interior, a huge engine with the mpg of an RX350, 0-60 in five seconds, etc...

webguy - 1/14/2007 10:44:45 PM

+1 Boost

I agree. Looks more like a marketing/consumer manipulation contest list than a winner’s list.

The Camaro concept is a promising direction for the new car, but it’s a chopped version of last year’s concept which makes it far from best of show.

Caravan, got the most press... Ironically some of it in the form of press leaks. Perhaps swiveling seats and a folding under-floor table overrides the shamelessly 80’s look they’ve instilled (or just maintained) into every facet of the design... or maybe I’m just out of touch with people who desire vans; certainly plausible, but all of the competition looks better to me.

I missed the innovation in the Trailhawk... where is it?

The XKR... I usually dismiss resemblance to another car for being a reason to dislike a car. Just about everything looks like something else; but with the XKR I just can’t get Mitsubishi Eclipse out of my head every time I see that front end, which would prevent me from putting it on that list. The profile of the XKR is indeed exquisite, but out of all the sexy cars in Detroit this year, the XKR should not make #1.

The Volt is not the most Earth-Friendly. It isn’t even a car! It’s a shell with big dreams. I’m not sure how GM managed to garner so much hype for an electric technology THEY DON'T EVEN HAVE THE BATTERIES FOR! Better yet, when plug-in finally becomes available, it will likely start in an Aveo or similar sized vehicle. So the first plug-in will be a golf-cart with airbags. By this thinking, the FT-HS should be named the most affordable supercar, since it’s so fast and costs around 30K.

The Fusion... I wonder how they asked this? Did they just ask "What’s the cheapest car at the show?" and then spin it as "Most Valuable" when this was released? That’s the only way Fusion should end up on this list.

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neutral - 1/15/2007 1:30:17 AM

+1 Boost

Look at all the "professional" ratings. The Fusion is the best everyday car for the money. I've driven Accords, Camrys, Fusions, Sonatas (just about all the cars in this segment) and all I can say is that they are all good cars. It now comes down to standard options and price. The Sonata and Fusion have that argument closed out. Thing is, the Sonata offers electronic stability (where the Fusion/Milan does not) but the Fusion/Milan offers Navigation (where the Sonata does not). Also, both the Fusion line and the Sonata are very aesthetically appealling (IMO) however I do in fact like the Fusion/Milan/MKZ a little bit more than the Sonata. Hyundai (as much as I admire their new found success) often copies other manufacturer's designs and in the case of the Sonata, they just copied the outgoing Honda Accord and various Acuras.

webguy - 1/15/2007 1:18:06 PM

+1 Boost

To me, value means you pay less money and the product resembles its more expensive counterparts. The Fusion doesn’t do this. You pay less and get much less. If the canyons running between the hard plastic panels aren’t any indication of inferior build quality, the crash tests should make it more obvious.

http://www.iihs.org/ratings/ratingsbyseries.aspx?id=561

As it turns out, stability control is very important in this car; hitting something could be very bad. I shouldn’t be able to use crash tests as an argument, as just about every other model in the class has insignificant differences; but the "Acceptable" and "Poor" awarded to the Fusion are unacceptable in a newly redesigned car.

In professional reviews, it got a reasonably warm reception, but not the best. Car and Driver gave it second in a comparison with an ’06 Camry in the pack. When Edmunds did a similar, updated comparison is came in dead last… granted, I don’t have all the comparison reviews. The pool of competition in this segment has since grown though; the Altima, Sebring and Malibu have since joined the competition, and were all at the show with strong arguments for value, if nothing else.

The show "readers" were probably armed with nothing more than corporate produced pamphlets, conveniently excluding any 3rd party opinions; and the Fusion touting its "Value" more than anything else… "cheaper" is really the only argument the Fusion wins, and the marketing types at Ford know it.

For what its worth, I really hate slamming this car. I just expect much, much more from the company that practically invented the American middle-class car.

Matthew1 - 1/14/2007 10:59:07 PM

+1 Boost

webguy, great post...

...but the FT-HS, no matter the spec sheet says, it's still a concept car.

And on that basis we can go no further than to garnish it as most promising.

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webguy - 1/14/2007 11:23:45 PM

+2 Boost

Thanks.

...that was actually my point. FT-HS shouldn’t get most affordable supercar any more than the Volt should get most earth friendly. Neither one is going to be produced. Both of them are merely hype and a dream that show little, if any, resemblance to the reality.

Matthew1 - 1/14/2007 11:03:43 PM

0 Boost

...and most ugly. Unless you think a snow plough is good enough inspiration for a sports car.

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mobiustech - 1/15/2007 12:26:42 AM

+3 Boost

Goes to show you, can't CONTROL what people find appealing. That is why we have choices and to knock the what these individuals find attractive is uterly silly. How can you say the choices are bad? Again a great example of bias/ elitism at its high order...

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truckmen - 1/15/2007 1:46:03 AM

+1 Boost

The dodge minivan great? People are always going to be ignorant!To the best of my knowledge Dodge hasn't fixed the lousy tranny that has a reputation at any reputably tranny shop because they make lousy trannys and they need constant rebuilds! I agree the Jeep Rubicon is great! It is hard to compare the rubicon to anything because the Rubicon is in a class of its own!Although it needs some improvements like more power and larger tires and better braking ability and a skid plate on the oil pan! The Jeep trail hawk! It insults ones inteligence! Best value Ford Fusion?Better than the Saturn Aurora, Civic and the corola?They should have these people write a test pertaining vehicle knowledge before they vote! I would like to see a bunch of knowledgeable mechanics vote on this!

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XYZZ - 1/15/2007 2:00:15 AM

+1 Boost

if the "reader-judges" had been from california or anywhere on the west coast, no doubt the results would've been quite different.

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opus - 1/15/2007 7:54:31 AM

+1 Boost

The innovation in the Trailhawk is the roof configuration. Also I think the Jeep loyalists are just glad to see something kind of resembling the Cherokee back in the fold. The Fusion is a good value. I would be interested in finding out whether or not a similar list was made during the LA auto show? And, by the way, if the Japanese companies are all heading to Cali, why did Nissan just move to Tennessee? Just a little question to ponder...

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jt716 - 1/15/2007 1:44:34 PMView My AgentSpace

0 Boost

Look I have the fusion it is pretty much a good value. Hyundai Toyota Honda are also good cars clearly in the edmunds test the fusion beat the sonata n last generation camry. The camry is too expensive these days...I have the fusion for 1 year no problems jsut a bulb fuse

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jt716 - 1/15/2007 3:20:00 PMView My AgentSpace

0 Boost

And if any american car company makes a good car u guys get all defensive. By the way the interior of the aura is all fake wood *aka* plastic. Looks good in pictures looks horrible in reality. The camry doesnt deserve because it is too expensive looks like something from the 60s

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jt716 - 1/15/2007 3:31:53 PMView My AgentSpace

+1 Boost

And Road and Track says its pretty good they even did a test check it out..
http://www.fordvehicles.com/fusionchallenge/?intcmp=B_FVBM_FVHP_FSCHLG_20070104 For the other guys who always buy toyota Give it up i lost interest the first toyotas n lexus were tthe best the fist LS ES are the bread and butter n the first corollas rav 4s n everything is 10 times better then the ones now even the old camrys i loved those

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