New cars, trucks at auto show eye gas economy
An electric sports car is displayed at the Paris Auto Show. (Sept. 30, 2010) Credit: AP
More than 30 new cars and trucks, many of them economical - reflecting rising gasoline prices - are to be unveiled this week as the nation's most important auto show opens to the media and then to the public in downtown Detroit.
The new models include a redesigned Honda Civic, a small minivan from Ford, an affordable coupe from Hyundai, a Toyota Prius wagon, the Chevrolet Sonic subcompact, a smaller Buick sedan and updated versions of the Jeep Compass compact SUV and Chrysler 300 midsize sedan.
Steven Spivey, an auto analyst based in San Antonio for the consulting company Frost and Sullivan, said that the Civic, a hot seller, is one of the most important of the show's introductions, but that gasoline prices possibly headed for $4 once again are spotlighting the gamut of compact vehicles. "I think everybody senses that we're going to be back where we were in 2008 when Priuses were practically driving themselves off the dealer lots," he said. The new Civic is due at dealerships in the spring.
The 2012 Buick Verano, due in showrooms in the fall, will be a 177-hp., four-cylinder compact luxury sedan to compete against models like the Audi A3 as part of the division's continuing effort to attract younger buyers. At 184 inches, it is about 6 inches shorter than Buick's smallest current sedan, the Regal.
The four-cylinder Ford C-MAX, due at dealerships in about a year, is aimed at budget-minded families and has seating for up to seven in three rows plus an optional "hands-free" tailgate that can be opened by a person laden with grocery bags with a wave of a foot beneath the rear bumper, without removing the key fob from pocket or purse. At 178 inches, the C-MAX is about 3 inches longer than a Ford Escape compact SUV.
Hyundai says the 2012 Veloster it will start shipping to dealers in the summer will be a small, affordable, front-wheel drive, four-cylinder coupe replacing the discontinued Tiburon. The 2012 Chevrolet Sonic, a front-drive four-cylinder car to be assembled in Michigan, replaces the Aveo and will be offered in sedan and two-door hatchback versions in this country when it goes on sale in about a year.
Chrysler Group will show updated versions, being called 2011 models, of the Compass now trickling into dealerships and the 300 just about to go on sale.
Toyota's Lexus division has announced that its 14,300-square-foot area at the auto show will include the previously unveiled CT 200h, a compact hybrid wagon going on sale in March, with claimed fuel economy averaging 42 mpg in local and highway driving. Another luxury carmaker, Daimler AG, was to show its freshened 2012 C-Class at an off-site event Sunday in Detroit. It goes on sale in the spring, with a four-cylinder version returning to the lineup.
In addition to a Prius wagon, Toyota will show a plug-in version of the popular hybrid due at dealerships next year.
Organizers of what is formally known as the North American International Auto Show say they expect more than 4,500 media at a two-day preview that begins Monday morning. The show opens to the public Saturday and runs through Jan 23.
Other "concept" vehicles, which often hint strongly at upcoming production models, include a four-door SUV from Hyundai, the HCD-12 Curb, to be unveiled at a news conference Monday; and a heavy-duty, five-passenger crew cab pickup truck from GMC, the All Terrain HD, which has a diesel engine and a 2,700-pound payload capacity and can tow a 13,000-pound trailer.
