It’s been quite a whirlwind this year, with Canadian auto dealer attending new vehicle introductions at the North American, Montreal and Canadian International Auto Shows. Here’s a look at some of the highlights from this year’s big events.
The seventh generation Corvette.
North American International Auto Show
Know by industry insiders simply as “Detroit,” the North American International Auto Show, is the one that kicks off the new year and usually that means, a host of exciting new product launches. Starting things off was the annual North American Car and Truck of the Year awards, which saw the Cadillac ATS and Ram 1500 take top honours. When it came to production vehicles this year, the biggest star, without question, was the seventh generation Corvette, wearing the Stingray moniker for the first time since 1976.
Other notable introductions, included a new entry-level BMW 3-Series, Cadillac’s extended range electric car, the ELR, the Infiniti Q50 (which replaces the G37 as its volume offering) Mercedes-Benz’ new line of bread and butter E-Class models (sedan, coupe, wagon and cabriolet), the new, updated Jeep Grand Cherokee and the Kia Cadenza, which represents the ambitious Korean brand’s first entry into the luxury segment.
Concept cars were also big news this year, with some hinting at future products to come. Probably one of the most significant, was the Lincoln MKC, which points to a compact crossover from the luxury brand. Such a vehicle is just what Ford’s Lincoln arm needs in order to rebuild its reputation and take on the might of Europe and Japan. Others included the Ford Atlas Concept, which hints at the next generation F-150 pickup, due within the next 24 months, plus an Acura MDX prototype, BMW 4-Series concept, Honda Urban SUV, Hyundai HCD-14 luxury concept and Volkswagen CrossBlue, hinting at VW’s continued plans to drive volume by pushing further into the fast-growing and profitable small crossover segment.
Meanwhile, Nissan unveiled the Resonance concept (rumoured to preview the next generation Murano crossover — which also won best concept at the annual Eyes-on -Design awards) and Toyota gave us the Furia, which hints at the next generation Corolla, the Japanese automaker’s best-selling model and a crucial product for dealers here in Canada.
This year’s North American International Auto show saw its highest attendance numbers since 2004, with 795,416 tickets sold, indicating that certainly in the short-term consumers are rekindling their love affair with the automobile.
MIAS Charity Preview raised more than $600,000.
Montreal International Auto Show
A few days later at the Montreal International Auto Show, Honda surprised everyone with a world debut, in this case its GEAR Concept Study Model, which aimed to showcase the possibilities for a small, affordable car targeted at young urban buyers. Dave Marek, Design Director at Research and Development, Honda Americas, called it a car that tears down the walls usually associated with small vehicles, namely that they’re either too utilitarian, or just the opposite, too impractical. The GEAR “is practical but fun, customizable, connected and affordable. Everything that young, discerning urban buyers would want in a car,” he said. Making their Canadian debuts were the highly anticipated 2013 Toyota RAV4 (the latest version of one of Toyota and Canada’s consistently most popular vehicles), the 2014 Fiat 500L, the 2014 Porsche Cayman and the 2014 Subaru Forester XT, as well as General Motors new full-size pickups, the 2014 Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra. The Automobile Journalists Association of Canada also announced their finalists for this year’s Car and Utility of the Year awards, in the car category, these being the Honda Accord, Hyundai Elantra GT and Porsche Boxster, while the utility contenders were the Ford Escape 2.0 EcoBoost and Hyundai Sante Fe 2.0T. The MIAS Charity Preview evening is always popular and this year, a total of $620,766 was raised in support of five medical foundations within the Greater Montreal Area. Since it began in 2005, this event has raised more than $3.4 million.
Honda unveiled it’s Urban SUV Concept this year.
Canadian International Auto Show
In terms of area and displays, the Canadian International Auto Show rivals some of the largest in the world. This year was significant in that it marked the show’s 40th anniversary and the mood was buoyant.
The biggest news announcement, from a Canadian perspective were the actual winners of the 2013 Automobile Journalists Association of Canada’s car and utility of the year award. And when the votes were tallied, this year’s winners were the new 2013 Honda Accord and 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe.
A great feature of the CIAS includes the annual Cruisin’ Nationals and Auto Exotica displays. However, for the first time this year, there was also a special Canadian Hot Rod Builders display. Hot Rods and custom cars are a staple part of automotive culture in North America and in order to showcase some of the extraordinary homegrown talent, this unique display featured 29 machines.
“Chrome, paint jobs, fine quality coach work and interiors, all that sort of stuff, that’s a huge wow factor,” said Tom Tonks, general manager for CIAS in reference to the Canadian Hot Rod Builders display. “We thought this would be [great] for our clientele. It’s something they wouldn’t normally be exposed to and unique for them to see.”
