North American International Auto Show from the Inside

Although the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) that’s going on in Detroit right now will be the last held in January, and although there was a lot of pre-show news generated about the absence of such brands as Mercedes and BMW, just to name two of those that decided to forego exhibiting, the 2019 NAIAS wasn’t without some notable introductions.

The week before the media was allowed into Cobo Center to witness the vehicle reveals CES was held in Las Vegas, a show that has become something of a bête noire for NAIAS. There a number of OEMs (including the aforementioned German brands) had exhibits, trying to attract the attention of the tech world.

So because of those two events, on this week’s edition of “Autoline After Hours” a panel of journalists well entrenched in both the proverbial iron of Detroit and the silicon of Vegas break down what was shown at each.

The panel consist of Joann Muller of Axios Autonomous Vehicles, Frank Marcus of Motor Trend, Todd Lassa of Automobile, and me.

As far as autonomy goes, the consensus seems to be that it will be later rather than sooner. Hype is given way to reality.

As for NAIAS, there were a number of vehicles introduced that have more than passing significance, and the ones we discussed include:

Cadillac XT6

Cadillac XT6, a three row SUV that sits below the Escalade and above the XT5

Ford Explorer

Ford Explorer, a new model on a new RWD platform that comes in an array of trims, including a hybrid

Volkswagen Passat

Volkswagen Passat, a new iteration of the sedan that VW hoped would help it gain ground in the U.S. (back when things like sedans had more robust sales)

Toyota Supra

Toyota Supra, a sports car that was out of production for 21 years back, a result of a collaboration with BMW

And more.

In addition to which, we discuss the outlook for electric vehicles, as GM has recently announced that Cadillac will be its lead brand in that space, and although Ford and Volkswagen announced that they’re going to be collaborating on commercial vehicles, odds are exceedingly good that they’re going to be getting together on EVs, as well.

And you can see it all here.