2008 North American International Auto Show

It’s that time of year again, time for a visit to Cobo and to the 2008 North American International Auto Show. (Past shows can be found here: 2007 & 2006

First thing you see this year in the lobby is Geely. Geely was the first Chinese Company to exhibit in Detroit, when they showed up in 2006. They were only here for the press preview days, and were like this year, set up in the lobby.

The FC looks like their flagship sedan. One of my favourite things about the Chinese Cars is the “engrish” in their brochures.

Some of the interior “features” include a “Central Storage Box” (Centre Console), “Electric Windiws (sic) & Central Locking” (Power windows and locks) as well as an “Intelligent Remoter” (Keyless Entry Key fob). 🙂

All kidding aside, Geely recently announced they plan to build a factory in Mexico to build cards for North America. Also on display was their TX4, which they are building as shipping to London England for use as their Taxi cabs.

Anyone that doubts that we’ll have Chinese Cars on the road in North America is living in a bubble.

A couple of shots of both the 3 door and 5 door versions of the Ford Verve “concept”. The 3 door’s debut was in September at the Frankfurt Autoshow. It will be going into production in Europe, and will be replacing the Ford Fiesta which was still being made in Europe despite its failure in North America. The 5 door concept was created to unveil in North America as a sedan instead of a hatchback. If they went to the trouble to make two of them, I think it’s a good bet they’ll be going into production.

The Ford Explorer America Concept. Keep pumping out those massive SUV’s…

…Like the all new Ford Flex! This former concept will be rolling off the assembly line for purchase in the summer.

The new redesigned Ford F-150.

The Honda CR-Z Concept.

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The Fisker Karma, plug in hybrid.

A Mercedes McLaren

A little Lambo, in flat black…

This Rolls-Royce Drophead Coupé, could be yours for only $458,950. But it has a V-12… 🙂

The Audi TTS – Unveiled in Detroit

The VW Rabbit.

The Nissan Forum Minivan concept. The rear seats can face each other… Just like the ones in the Windsor built Chrysler Van…

Speaking of Chrysler, it’s nice to see the familiar Pentastar Logo back in use.

The interior of the 2008 Town and Country…

The pride of Windsor Assembly.

An interesting concept, the R/T version of the Mini-van…

The all new Toyota Venza.

The Toyota A-Bat Hybrid concept. A-Bat – stands for Advance Breakthrough Aerodynamic Truck.

The Lexus LF-A Roadster concept. Very sharp. It’s undergoing rigorous testing in Japan, and probably has a good shot at being a production model.

The European Opel Corsa, at the GM display.

The Chevy Volt Electric Car. A Concept last year, it has been given the green light from production. It plugs into a regular 110 volt socket.

Not to be outdone, the Saturn Flextreme plug-in concept. So far the range on this car is only 34 miles…

The Buick Riviera concept. Designed in China, the car made its debut at the Shanghai Auto Show in 2007. For some reason the Buick sells like crazy and is one of the most popular nameplates in China.

Now down to the basement to see the cars on display from Chinese Manufacturers.

As well as being in the lobby, Geely also had a booth in the lower level.

The Geely MK

BYD Auto? Build Your Dreams? Wow that’s cheesy.

The BYD F8, or as the promotional material proclaims: “EXHILARATION HARMONIOUS”

the F3R exterior…

… and interior. Very spartan and plain, but no worse than a low end car from any other manufacturer.

Some of the other models had nicer interior options.

Chanfeng Motor, was at the show last year too. Not only did they return this year, but they brought a few other companies with them.

“Move you in a moment – No splurge, nor scrupulousness, but only pureness.” The CS6

The Kylin – new this year

The CS7, like the CS6 this is also a returning model from last year.

That’s all for another year!