Send out the clowns
Another Detroit Auto Show press preview has come and gone. Three days of overworking, overindulging, and over-exaggerating by the media and factory PR types alike.

The glitzy new-car introductions with their light shows, loud rock-and-roll, third-tier celebrities and tired promises of new design directions are over.

So what's new? Not much. GM's Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid concept is interesting, with its promise of 150 mpg overall and 40-mile range on electric power only. But before you run out to buy stock, keep in mind the necessary batteries haven't been fully developed yet.

The Lexus LF-A and Chevy Camaro convertible are cool, but both are a few years off.

Toyota's Tundra pickup is almost on sale, after an auto show gestation period rivaling that of the Saturn Aura. But it's still just a pickup truck.

Chrysler pointed out, with great fanfare, their all-new minivans can now be had with swiveling seats and a picnic table. Hardly life -hanging stuff, but at least you can recline the seats and sleep in a minivan, even if doing so at its debut is frowned upon.

Maybe the best news this year is that the overall mood at the stands of domestic brands seemed better, with happier suits singing happier songs than we heard in '06. Where the best some company execs could do last year was to say their stuff isn't quite as lame as it used to be, some of the domestics -- particularly GM -- seemed downright upbeat this year.

And that can't be a bad thing, even to an over-tired and overly cynical auto writer.
Posted by Jim Travers, Consumer Reports 9:19 AM 0 Comments comment | Add a Comment

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Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.