Having all but given away the cream of the domestic car market to foreign competitors as they trumpeted trucks for the past decade, US automakers are touting a return to the glory days of the car as their best bet to restore reliable profits.
However, just as the Big Three US carmakers turn their efforts to reviving their small-vehicle fortunes, the overseas crowd is revving up truck and sport utility lines of their own in a bid to squeeze Detroit's largest source of profits.
PHOTO: EPA
"I think we as an industry probably deserted the car for some time. It's time to put the focus back on that," Joe Eberhardt, Chrysler's marketing chief, said.
"I think the car making a comeback, not just for us but for some of our competitors as well, probably will be a good story for '04."
General Motors Corp, Ford Motor Co and DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler arm will roll out roughly 40 new or updated models this year, giving them their best chance in years to prove they can compete head-on against foreign automakers in the US.
At the North American International Auto Show on Sunday, GM unveiled the Pontiac Solstice, a small convertible that GM plans to start selling late next year at prices starting around US$20,000. GM has a number of car models coming out this year, from the Chevrolet Cobalt small car to the Cadillac STS luxury sedan.
Ford showed off the Five Hundred large sedan, a new version of the iconic Ford Mustang and the Freestyle "crossover," or car-based sport utility vehicle. The Freestyle is Ford's first entry in the fast-growing market for midsized car-based SUVs that has been dominated so far by Japanese automakers, while the Five Hundred and Mustang are Ford's first updates in those segments in years.
And no golden era in Detroit would be complete without a new raft of sports cars. Chrysler, which is rolling out the 300C and Dodge Magnum rear-wheel-drive midsize cars this year, on Sunday unveiled the audacious ME Four-Twelve concept -- a mid-engine, 850-horsepower supercar that it hinted could be headed for production.
GM planned to unveil the next generation of the Chevrolet Corvette, complete with a 400-horsepower V8, on Sunday evening. And Ford on Sunday night was set to unveil a concept sports car reviving the Shelby Cobra name from the 1960s sporting some 600 horsepower.
But while the Big Three work on parts of the market they've neglected, foreign automakers discussed how they're targeting new segments. Honda Motor Co Ltd unveiled a concept version of its first pickup truck for the US market, a midsize, four-door truck that will go into production next year.
Toyota Motor Corp showed off a gasoline-electric hybrid version of its Highlander SUV that it said it would build early next year, along with a concept full-size pickup that hinted at the next version of its Tundra due in 2006.
"We are on a serious mission to build big-truck market share that will match our strong car presence," said Jim Press, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Toyota's US sales arm.
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