One of the mainstays of the car show calendar could stake out a new spot on the calendar, with reports that the Detroit Auto Show is hoping to get out of CES' growing shadow. The Detroit car event - officially known as the North American International Auto Show or NAIAS - has for years taken place in January, kick-starting the year with vehicle news.
One of the coolest concept cars that we saw at the Detroit Auto Show was the Infiniti Q Inspiration concept car. That long and sleek four-door beauty wants to make the sedan cool again and if Infiniti builds it, cool it will certainly be. What we didn’t hear much about at the auto show was when we might see something based on the Infiniti Q.
Lamborghini is a name mostly associated with sports cars. Or to be more specific, “super” sports cars. But once in a while, the marque decides to venture outside of its comfort zone, giving birth to vehicles like the LM002 “Lamborghini truck”. It is doing so once again, but, this time, it is pulling in all its history, its lessons, its heritage, what Lamborghini loves to call its “DNA”, to create a new car, even a new classification, for the modern market. That is the Urus, the world’s first ever, and so far only, “super” SUV.
Acura has made some announcements that fans of cars like the 2002 Acura RSX Type S pictured here will appreciate. Acura says that "over the next few years" the Type-S performance variants will return to its line and will be situated at the top of the core model lineup. Acura also has other performance-oriented plans for its cars.
Company’s today have learned from the showmanship of the late Steve Jobs in ending a presentation with a punch. That has become true even for car shows. At the Detroit Auto Show, also known by its longer name, the North American International Auto Show, Ford already had a few cars to reveal. It may, however, just saved the best for last. No actual car was shown, of course, but Ford did show off a video revealing the upcoming Mustang Shelby GT500, poised to breach the 200 mph barrier next year.
It should probably come as no surprise that in a city like Detroit, trucks dominated the auto show. All the same, with CES increasingly counting car news among its gadget pageantry just a week prior, there were questions from some quarters as to whether the North American International Auto Show 2018 would have any news left. Turns out, Detroit still had some aces up its sleeve, both domestic and foreign.
If you thought Ram was going to leave Chevrolet and Ford to have all the truck fun at the Detroit Auto Show 2018 this year, think again. The 2019 Ram 1500 is another from-the-ground-up recreation, shedding nearly 225 pounds from the outgoing truck and gaining a clever mild-hybrid system that should produce power and economy savings even the most traditional of pickup buyers can't argue with.
Clearly nobody told Hyundai that the Detroit Auto Show 2018 was being dominated by trucks and slick luxury sedans: the South Korean company instead brought the brand new 2019 Veloster and its crazy Veloster N. The regular Veloster is now available with both a regular and a turbocharged engine for those looking for more power. As for the Veloster N, that's Hyundai's attempt to out-play VW's Golf GTI.
There's no denying that Mercedes-AMG makes a good looking sports sedan, and the 2019 AMG CLS 53 is an excellent example of the breed. Announced at the Detroit Auto Show 2018 today, the (arguably most striking) member of the new 53-series promises no shortage of speed from its 429 horsepower. However, there's also an electrified surprise under the hood.
Toyota has finally embraced Apple CarPlay, announcing that the 2019 Toyota Avalon will feature the smartphone-powered infotainment system as standard. The car, unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show 2018 today, features the automaker's newest Entune 3.0 infotainment platform, including the Toyota Connected Services. However, for iPhone owners what'll be most exciting is covering up Entune altogether.
Acura may be calling this 2019 RDX Prototype just a "first look" at the design of its upcoming third-generation RDX, but make no mistake, there's more here than simply hints and teases. The SUV, unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show 2018 today, is Acura's most extensive redesign in a decade, and brings previously concept-only features like the Acura Precision Cockpit infotainment system into production.
The new Kia Forte evolves for the third generation with design cues inspired by the Stinger, all new in-house designed and built Intelligent Variable Transmission, advanced driver assistance technology, and infotainment. Kia's aiming to move the Forte upmarket with a new design and features to evolve their best selling vehicle into something more so than a compact car that is meant for getting people from points A to B.