You can’t believe the size of this place. This is the Cobo Center in downtown Detroit. It’s huge…as far as the eye can see …you can see cars and displays and big screen projection screens. And people. Tons of people. Each area of the center is clearly marked…by 20 foot signs that read: FORD, DODGE, MERCEDES, GM…and so on. 700,000 square feet of carpeted car heaven. I swear I thought I would be walking and walking on hard cement floors. I wore my most comfortable shoes only to find that the entire car show…I mean every inch of showroom floor is carpeted. Some displays are raised and I tripped a couple of times because you walk around with your head in the air looking in every direction except in the direction you are walking. And you can sometimes just follow the crowd or you see people standing around ’something.’ You know something hot and exciting is nearby because all you see are human beings surrounding ’something.” Then you find it. An exclusive sports car. Everyone is taking pictures. Some of the high-end makers let you ‘in’ their display to touch and see and experience…like Mercedes. Beautiful cars. I sat behind the wheel of some machines that blew my mind. Opened and closed doors. Checked engines. Inspected trunks. Others-Bentley: look but don’t touch..thank you very much!
Now to the practical. The Big Three: Ford, GM, Chrysler. Even in the domestic zones at the car show, it’s glitzy. Since this is my first time I have nothing to compare it to. But my research indicates that all the Big Three cut back on some things or everything. From the displays to bigwigs being wined and dined during the show to the people standing around to help you figure out what is new, what is concept and what is green. Yeah…that is the new buzzword.
More coming up on the theme of this year’s car show: GREEN.
That is all.
