2006 North American International Auto Show
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Janaury 13, 2006

Exclusive "insider's look"

Jeeps on stage at Chrysler Group stand

By Jil McIntosh

Back in 1907, in conjunction with a hunting and fishing accessories show, seventeen exhibitors showed 33 cars at Beller's Beer Garden at Riverside Park in Detroit, Michigan.

It wasn't the first new-car show in North America; New York had already held one in Madison Square Gardens in 1900 that drew 34 new cars, as well as a separate display of "veteran cars" from the late 1800s. But as the auto industry sorted itself out, with smaller, far-flung companies folding or amalgamating, and larger companies growing and relocating, Detroit carved out a name for itself as America's "Motor City".

Today, the North American International Auto Show is held in Detroit's Cobo Center, where it has been since 1965; in 2005, more than 6,600 journalists from 52 countries and 40 U.S. states attended, including 264 television networks. The number of exhibitors is staggering: 45 car and tire brands in the main hall, 20 exhibitors in the downstairs Michigan Hall, and nine displays in the concourse leading into the show. The event has had international status since 1989, and in the years since then, has hosted 853 North American and worldwide vehicle introductions.

You want more mind-boggling facts? Fifteen years ago, it took four days to build the show; now, it takes about ten weeks. It covers over 213,360 square metres (700,000 square feet), and requires fourteen tractor-trailers just to bring in the carpet. The exhibits, lighting and sound equipment use enough electricity over two weeks to power 180 homes for one year. Building the event takes over 1,500 workers; keeping it going involves more than 1,700 people, including 200 janitors, 500 to 700 catering personnel, 65 vehicle polishers, 135 car porters and 450 security personnel. The exhibits and the vehicles are valued at over US$200 million; the event adds more than US$500 million annually to the Southeast Michigan economy, with nearly US$100 million benefiting the City of Detroit directly.

There are actually four separate events: three days of press previews, two days of industry previews, a charity preview (which raised US$15,000 in 1976, and US$7 million in 2005), and finally, nine days of public viewing, which run from January 14 to 22. While the overall displays are the same for all, press days feature temporary stages and viewing areas that are dismantled and replaced with vehicles before the public arrives.

Seconds after its worldwide introduction, the all-new Wrangler (TJ in Canada) left the stage, drove through the show exhibit area, and smashed through the glass and out of Cobo Center en route to climbing Jeep Mountain in front of Cobo Center. Tom LaSorda, President and CEO, Chrysler Group, emerges from the all-new 2007 Jeep Wrangler atop Jeep Mountain across the street from Cobo Center. Photos: Joe Wilssens

The press days are carefully orchestrated: manufacturers present their all-new vehicles in special conferences, dubbed "reveals", going on a strict timetable. Since there's only ten minutes between them, the schedulers also try to arrange them by location, so that journalists aren't racing from one end of the massive complex to the other. Most of the reveals are done at the manufacturer's display (Ford and its various brands use the adjacent Cobo Arena, where journalists sit in the stands) and range from a model simply pulling the cover off a car, to complex events involving fireworks, live bands, short films, fake blizzards and celebrities.

There's always a buzz around the more elaborate reveals – the Chrysler Group is famous for them, and this year drove a Jeep off the stage, through the building, crashed through a plate-glass window, and crossed the street to climb a set of stairs to an outdoor display. It's impossible for everyone to get a prime vantage point, and many media organizations – CanadianDriver included – rotate their journalists, with one covering an event while another grabs a prime spot at an upcoming one.

Proving that persistance is more effective than patience, Jil McIntosh took advantage of a large group of GM VIPs that had been ussured into the stage area in front of journalists who had waited over an hour for the arrival of the Camaro, stepping through the crowd of VIPs to take these great shots - ed. Photos: Jil McIntosh

For the much-anticipated Camaro reveal, which featured a marching band and a parade of vintage Chevrolets, we waited over an hour to keep our ringside seat. When it's all about capturing the best possible shot, chivalry is definitely dead; no one gives an inch, and should you move even a foot or two away, your spot is gone.

Each automaker uses a different tactic, and it's tough to say which one is the most effective; all of us had seen photographs of the Challenger, which DaimlerChrysler had supplied to the media prior to the show, while the Camaro was so closely guarded that very few in the crowd had any idea what it would look like. But both events were equally packed.

Public show-goers will have to pony up big bucks for bad concession-stand food, but during the press days, it's all about making an impression (and attracting people to your display). Almost every booth contains food and/or drink of some sort, ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous. You can get plain coffee, or a barista who will custom-make you a cappuccino; you can have potato chips, or pork loin with whipped potatoes; you can have hot dogs, or chicken with biscuits; for dessert, Mercury even had a chocolate fountain. Beer and wine also flow freely, and bottled waters come from all corners of the globe. But as some automakers still serve food to excess, others are increasingly watching the bottom line: the fresh-fruit smoothies offered by Mini at last year's event were replaced with Coke and water at this one, with someone in the booth commenting, "We could have bought a house with what we spent on smoothies last year." (The practice is common at many auto shows, although the Toronto event, held each February, has banned it, with journalists getting only water or soft drinks throughout the day and a single, simple lunch.)

Dieter Zetsche, Chief Executive Officer, DaimlerChrysler AG serves as a guest bartender at "The Firehouse", while Jason Vines, Vice President of Chrysler Group Communications, rings the engine bell. Photo: Joe Wilssens

The revelry continues after the press conferences wind down in the afternoon, with DaimlerChrysler turning a fire hall across the street into a lounge open to all (board of management chief Dieter Zetsche usually spends the evening happily tending bar), and other manufacturers inviting specific journalists for events and dinners.

Still, it's a surreal combination of work and pleasure; there's not an empty spot to be found in the media centre, where journalists plug in their laptops and transmit their stories around the globe, and a hotel that doesn't offer high-speed Internet might as well put a "Closed" sign up on its door, as writers and photographers work well into the wee hours of the morning to spread the news. It isn't strenuous work (unless you're one of those unfortunate ones hauling huge TV cameras), but it's very tiring, and halfway through the second day many people – media and auto personnel alike – look like they've been pushed through a wringer.

"Spokesmodels" flank the new Ferrari FXX. Photo: James Bergeron

The auto industry goes in cycles, and the public relations machine is no exception. This year, there were many more "spokesmodels" than in years gone by – some of them very classically-dressed, and some of them wearing outlandish and rather revealing outfits. The new trend toward hybrid technology means that there's much more information to be dispersed, and engineers are on hand to explain the nuances of their vehicles. In many booths, there's an almost 1960s feel, as automakers try to associate their products with lifestyles, and sell the sizzle before they bring out the steak.

The concept cars are always a big draw. They date back to 1939, when designer Harley Earl introduced the Buick Y-Job, a prototype built on a production chassis but featuring such futuristic (for the day) items as disappearing headlamps, flush door handles, a convertible top that hid under a metal deck lid, and electric windows.

Click image to enlarge Ford F-250 Super Chief. Photo: James Bergeron

Today, as then, they are used to showcase new technologies and styling cues, and to drum up public attention for new models. Some, like the Super Chief truck unveiled by Ford, may only ever donate a few items to production vehicles; others need only a few tweaks before they arrive on the showroom floor. Driving out through fog, brought onstage by celebrities, announced amid pounding music and strobe lights, they're the movie stars that make news reports and front pages around the world no later than next morning – exactly as the automakers intend them to do.

It's come a long way from thirty-three cars vying for space with fishing lures and target pistols, and it's impossible to say where it's all going in the future. Perhaps Geely, the little Chinese car whose display took up a few square feet in an outside hall, will one day have journalists scrambling to find the best spot amid fireworks and smoke machines. Maybe Malcolm Bricklin, who didn't bring the Chinese-built Chery he's trying to import, but who was spotted walking amid the crowd, will be just as much in demand for interviews as GM's Bob Lutz or Nissan's Carlos Ghosn. Or, conceivably, there will be only a few gasoline-powered cars in the corner, with everyone busy checking out the new hydrogen- or ethanol- or coffee-powered engines. No matter what it is, one thing's for sure: we'll be there to cover it, and report on all the news that's fit to print.

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