The North American International Auto Show, better known as the “Detroit Auto Show” kicked off this week in Motor City. The first auto show of the year in the U.S. it gives us a look at the 2018 models and those in the years to come. If there were a theme to this year’s show it would appear to be the hybrid/electric fuel and self-driving vehicles, as there are a plethora of luxury SUVs, minivans and high-tech concept cars all incorporating the respective technologies. Don’t believe us, well…will let the flicks do the talking.
Nissan Vmotion 2.0
The Nissan Vmotion 2.0 isn’t a typical concept car. Zero fatalities appears to be the mission of this vehicle. “Nissan Intelligent Mobility” is Nissan’s roadmap to achieve this. The lighting around the front Nissan emblem glows to indicate when the vehicle is in what is called ProPILOT mode, which is envisioned to provide autonomous driving support technology on urban roads and at intersections.
VW I.D. Buzz
Volkswagen unveiled another new microbus concept and what’s old is new again. The I.D. Buzz is an all-electric, fully autonomous vehicle meant to harken back to the days of peace, love and Woodstock. A futuristic car, with a vintage feel.
Lexus LS 500
The Lexus LS is the OG of Lexus. It put Toyota on the map in terms of luxury vehicles. The LS 500 seeks to reinvent and reboot the model. For the gear heads the biggest change is from a V8 to twin-turbo V6 engine. For the techies, the most distinguishing feature is safety driven. At the show Lexus announced a first-ever safety system that detects humans in front of it. If a collision is imminent, a warning will light up on the display, and then the car will automatically brake and steer away from the person while staying in its lane.
Infiniti QX50 Concept
Infiniti’s unveiled its compact SUV the QX50 concept. Keeping with the apparent theme of this year’s show, the vehicle contains Pro Pilot, its autonomous driving system. Infiniti’s Pro Pilot is said to “delegate” the boring parts of driving — stop and go traffic, for instance — to the driver-assist computer. The biggest plus is that Infiniti spokespeople at the show indicated that unlike many a concept car, the QX50 Concept is “very near” to the production version. Looks like we are getting closer and closer to I, Robot.
Mercedes Benz Concept EQ
Finally tapping into electric technology which Elon Musk practically owns the market on, Mercedes Benz let loose its electric car offering. The ConceptEQ has the appearance of a sporty SUV coupé, exterior design with a new electro-look underlines, two electric motors, with a system output that can be increased to up to 300 kW thanks to scalable battery components. “Generation EQ” is the forerunner of Mercedes-Benz’s new product brand for electric mobility. The name EQ stands for “Electric Intelligence” and is derived from the Mercedes-Benz brand values of “Emotion and Intelligence”.
GAC GS7 and Enspirit
Looks like Chinese automaker GAC is dipping its toes into the U.S. auto market. As it debuted several models at the show. Including the GS7 which is a five-passenger SUV goes on sale in China next month and the Enspirit Concept, a matte copper vehicle for a four-door coupe body style that the Germans can’t seem to build enough of. We have only one question, are the models included?
