Auto Shows (Page 68)

There is more to the Tesla at the 2011 Detroit Auto Show than just a bunch of lithium-ion battery packs and a pretty fascia. Under the skin, the design of the upcoming Tesla Model S is dependent on a robust engineered, aluminum-body structure.

A few months ago, I had a chance to preview Electronic Art’s upcoming Need for Speed: Shift 2 Unleashed thanks to the folks at World Racing (and of course, EA) but at the 2011 Detroit Auto Show EA and Ford had a display setup and the folks at TheXboxSource.com got gameplay video of the new racing simulator.

The 2011 Nissan Leaf began reaching the hands of American consumers in December 2010 as the full scale electric car war begins but while the 2011 Chevy Volt was well represented at the 2011 Detroit Auto Show, the Leaf was more of an afterthought.

The police car segment has been heating up with each of the Detroit Big 3 offering up new cop cars but only Ford Motor Company used the 2011 Detroit Auto Show to feature their new models – as Ford brought out a new Explorer and a pair of police-purposed Taurus SHO sedans to show off their Police Interceptor lineup.

When the popular new video game Call of Duty: Black Ops was released in November 2010, Jeep announced that they would be offering a special Black Ops Edition Jeep Wrangler to celebrate the vehicle being featured in the highly anticipated shooter but at the 2011 Detroit Auto Show, Mopar accessorized the Black Ops Jeep to really reflect the intensity of the game.

During an impromptu question and answer session with Chrysler head Sergio Marchionne at the 2011 Detroit Auto Show, the boss commented that either the Chrysler Town & Country or Dodge Caravan lineup would be coming to an end in the near future as the company works to diminish redundancy among their brands.

The Mopar Ram Runner was introduced at an Easter event in Moab Utah last year, followed up by a trip to the 2010 SEMA Show in Las Vegas but with the beginning of the 2011 Detroit Auto Show, the modified Ram 1500 made its “production” debut in the Motor City.

The 2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302 has been shown off all over the country but when it made its Detroit Auto Show debut this past Monday, Ford had a unique way to show off this new high-performance Mustang in action – right in the middle of Cobo Hall.