| Automakers are developing awesome concept | | | | General Motors will showcase an |
| cars to wow more shoppers and to win back | | | | ultra-powerful Corvette and a 550-hp Cadillac |
| customers. Aficionados find them excellent | | | | CTS. The Nissan Motor Co. will set free the |
| unfortunately, they cannot have them yet. | | | | 480-hp Skyline GTR, and Toyota will sell its |
| They belong to the future. And the future is | | | | new Highlander SUV. |
| not today. | | | | |
| | | | For Ford CEO Alan Mulally, the NAIAS gives |
| Ford Motor Co. introduced its fuel-sipping | | | | him an opportunity to drive home the themes |
| subcompact - the Verve - at the North | | | | he has sounded as he tries to return Ford to |
| American International Auto Show with the | | | | profitability by 2009. The Verve represents |
| hope of putting a halt to the ongoing sales | | | | what Mulally wants Ford to become: a company |
| doldrums. But it would not go on sale in | | | | that builds world-class, fuel-efficient cars |
| America for at least a couple of years. | | | | the same way from the same parts all around |
| | | | the globe, realizing huge economies of scale, |
| Chrysler LLC will also introduce unveil three | | | | a release said. |
| electric-car concepts that are years away | | | | |
| from reality. General Motors Corp. will again | | | | Toyota and Honda already have hot-selling |
| tout the electric Volt it hopes to build - by | | | | small cars in America. This raises the query |
| 2010, the auto maker promises, reported the | | | | of whether the Dearborn automaker's |
| Wall Street Journal. Honda Motor Co. has a | | | | subcompact will be very late. "In North |
| hydrogen fuel-cell car and Toyota Motor Corp. | | | | America, we've given short shrift to this end |
| plans to present a small, aerodynamic truck | | | | of the market," said George Pipas, Ford's top |
| prototype, the release divulged. | | | | sales analyst. "It's a valid concern." |
| | | | |
| "While the future of these companies will be | | | | Ford, meanwhile, has a number of upcoming |
| greatly dependent on new technology | | | | vehicles this year. Besides the new F-150 |
| development, today's reality is that they | | | | truck, Ford will launch a new small |
| must sell as many of these big trucks as | | | | sport-utility called Flex and a new Lincoln |
| possible to fill their plants and drive cash | | | | sedan this year. |
| flow," said John Casesa, a former Wall Street | | | | |
| analyst who now heads his own advisory firm. | | | | "We're not going to say that we don't mind |
| "They have no choice." | | | | not having more small cars," Mulally said. Of |
| | | | the Verve, he noted: "Would we like to have |
| With gas prices rising, automakers are forced | | | | it sooner? You bet. Do we care more about |
| to develop fuel efficient vehicles. But | | | | getting it right? You bet." |
| reality dictates that auto shoppers cannot | | | | |
| have them for now. They will actually hit | | | | Aside from the goal of wowing shoppers, |
| American roads in the coming years. | | | | automakers should also focus on the quality |
| | | | of their products. To stress, Bilstein will |
| Like Ford, Chrysler's main new model is a | | | | never ink a good reputation if quality is |
| huge pickup truck, the redesigned Dodge Ram. | | | | sacrificed. |