The thoroughly upgraded 2013 Ram 1500 capped a decisive Awards Show season with a dominating performance in the North American Truck/Utility of the Year competition. The revised Ram utilizes an 8-speed automatic to return better performance and 25 mpg on the highway. Coupled with other enhancements like more aerodynamic styling, an available air-ride suspension, improved interior ergonomics and power lockable Rambox bedside “trunks”, the Ram 1500 walked away from its fellow finalists, the Mazda CX-5 and Ford C-Max. For you trivia buffs out there, we’ll save you the trip to Google: The Ram 1500 last won the coveted award in 1994 when it debuted with the iconic styling still in place today.
Kicking off the festivities at Cobo Hall for the North American International Auto show was the announcement of the North American Car and Truck / SUV of the Year winners. The Cadillac ATS was named North American Car of the Year, edging out the Ford Fusion and Honda Accord midsize sedans. This was Cadillac’s first time receiving the award and was no surprise since the automotive press has been giving the luxury brand’s compact rear-wheel-drive sport sedan high praise. North American Car of the Year awards are determined by a panel of 49 journalists from the United States and Canada. The jurors are given 25 points to distribute among the cars. The ATS led with 207 points, followed by 159 points for the Honda Accord, and 124 points for the Ford Fusion. Cadillac executive cheif engineer, Dave Leone, was on hand to accept the award on behalf of the Cadillac team. Read more…
RS 7
Audi has been on a winning streak of offering a long succession of beautiful cars. If the A5, A6, and A8 aren’t pretty enough, Audi has the A7 Sportback. If the A7 isn’t fast enough then an affluent buyer with an extra $18,700 laying around can opt for the S7 with 420 horsepower.
When you put three AT Editors in a hotel suite with enough technology to make the local NBC affiliate jealous it’s a miracle anything gets done. We managed to put down the pizza and peel our eyes from the seven—yes, seven—screens we’re utilizing just long enough to gather our thoughts and discuss the highlights of what we expect to see when the doors of COBO Hall swing open tomorrow. We also put our pride on the line and declared our individual picks for North American Car and Truck of the year, which will be announced before the show kicks off Monday morning. We’ll be up before the sun to bring you the latest from Detroit and we won’t quit until the gelato runs out, so check back Monday evening as our Day 1 coverage goes live.
Automakers are feeling pretty good about 2012 and from what we’ve been able to pry out of them they’re going to be kicking-off 2013 in style by rolling out more than 50 new concept cars and production vehicles at the annual auto show season kickoff we call the North American International Auto Show. That means we’re going to have to take our coverage to the next level so readers far and wide will feel like they’re in the Motor City with us taking notes, snapping pictures and tracking down the best gourmet cappuccino. And we plan to do just that by increasing our video offerings and on-the-spot Twitter reporting. (Follow us @automotvtrnds) Of course we’ll be recapping things each night with all the highlights and stunning photography you crave. Find your way back here Sunday, January 13th as we descend into the madness and get things started with our predictions for North American Car and Truck of the Year.
In the automotive food chain it’s good to be at the top. That’s where automakers like to introduce their latest technologies, premium powerplants and most extravagant luxuries in what amounts to a rolling test bed of the industry’s cutting edge. Competition at this level is always entertaining and reaching borderline comical levels. Thought the 16 speaker audio system in the BMW 7-Series was class leading? Audi will see your bet and raise you an optional 19 speaker system that costs half a Nissan Versa! If the seven speed auto in your S-Class was boast worthy last year Audi would like to introduce you to their new eight speed autobox. What, your cruise control only maintains a set speed? Mercedes has active systems that will brake the car to a stop without your input, pull you back into your lane should you start to drift out and pierce through the darkness with night vision that would make half the world’s militaries jealous. Development moves so fast in this rarified class that we’d have to hire a full-time Luxury Car Editor to keep up. Since we spent all the money budgeted for that position on a Star Wars pinball machine for the office we decided we better familiarize ourselves with the latest and greatest from the primary luxury players. We requested a BMW 7-Series, Mercedes S-Class and Audi A8 loaded to the roof with gadgets and lined with the finest leather to treat–we meant test–ourselves and the latest six figure luxury sedans in an epic comparison test only the AT Crew could concoct. In need of a destination we set the nav systems to Sault Ste Marie on Michigan’s northern border with Canada and set off on Operation: Opulence to determine the winner. Read more…
There’s a lot to see at the 2012 North American International Auto Show and many of our readers won’t be able to experience it firsthand, but if you’re looking for just the highlights you’ve come to the right spot. Executive Editor Brandon Dye, Senior Editor Jason Muxlow and Design Editor Erich Gernand spent two days covering the show from top to bottom and they’ve got the sore feet to prove it. So anyone who can’t make it to the Motor City this year should sit back and listen in as they discuss the big news coming out of Detroit. You don’t even have to risk sore feet.
This year no debut earned more applause than the announcement that the Acura NSX Concept would be entering production within three years. Check out this video of Executive Editor Brandon Dye sharing the highlights of the returning Japanese supercar. Read more…
Buick has been teasing us for the last several weeks by slowly revealing bits of their newest crossover. Buick has also chosen to tease those of us with a long memory by choosing the moniker ‘Encore’ for this crossover. That name was last used on a much unloved Renault hatchback marketed in the 1980’s alongside its Alliance sedan counterpart at AMC dealerships. No matter, the Encore name likely was chosen due to its audible similarity to Buick’s large Enclave crossover. Unexpectedly, the Encore is based on the Chevrolet Sonic rather than the Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain. Read more…
