DETROIT: The Detroit Auto Show returned to January for the first time since 2019, on Saturday as the city dug itself out of a winter storm that dropped about 2.5 inches of snow Friday.
Attendees braved the soggy streets and temperatures in the 30s to make their way to Huntington Place for the opening at 10am.
"It's nice indoor walking, because it's cold outside," said Martin Ziza, who came with his wife, Natalie, from Windsor, Ontario, for the day to see the auto show for the first time. He was glad to find something to do in the winter. He said he works for one of the "Big Three" automakers, and it's useful to see which vehicles people are interested in and what competitors are doing.
The Detroit Auto Show, derailed for a few years by the Covid-19 pandemic, moved to September for 2022 and 2023 and was skipped last year, returns in a changed landscape.
The show rebranded as the Detroit Auto Show from the North American International Auto Show.
Electric and hybrid offerings make up a prominent share of the vehicles on display, and the ubiquity of social media means automakers can reveal new cars whenever and however they choose.
2025 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 3LZ Coupe.
The Jan 10-20 show includes a handful of indoor tracks that feature off-road simulations and high ramps.
Kathy Sauley, 60, took a ride in a 2025 Ford Bronco over a track with a sharp rise and roller coaster-like drop back down. She and her husband Tim, 62, drove in from Kentucky but lived in the Detroit area when they first married 38 years ago. They said they've been coming to the auto show about every other year since the late 1980s.
They said they enjoy seeing concept cars, which are made to showcase new technology and styles, as well as vehicles already on the market.
"You've got the concept cars, and then you've got the ones that are ready to be coming on the line in the next few years," Kathy Sauley said. "And just the variety of them, because where else do you get to see so many automakers?"
Ford Bronco Raptor.
John Roach, a spokesman for mayor Mike Duggan, said the city hopes to see more than US$100 million in economic benefits from the show. It has had as much as US$300 million in impact in the past, he said.
The auto industry had to climb back to prosperity after the Great Recession, which saw GM and Chrysler declare bankruptcy in 2009. In its heyday in the late 1980s through the 2010s, the show often featured dozens of new car debuts each year and saw a peak of 838,066 visitors in 2003. The auto show attracted 815,575 attendees in 2016, the largest crowd since 2003.
But Saturday didn't seem to have a shortage of people excited to be in Detroit and interested to see what the automakers have to offer.
Tom Zagorski, 65, came from Pittsburgh for the show. He said he's in the market for a new vehicle and considering a hybrid SUV. After checking out the electric Cadillac Optiq, he said he's also interested in a Lincoln Nautilus.
VW ID.Buzz.
"It's Detroit, the Motor City. And I've heard it's a fabulous show," he said of choosing to come to the city for the showcase.
"I've been to Pittsburgh's show, which is nice, but I'm in the market earlier."
The electric Volkswagen ID.Buzz is one new vehicle making its debut on this season's auto show circuit. Robert Hall, a regional manager for the brand, said it's meant to engender nostalgia with its resemblance to vintage Volkswagen buses of the 1970s. It won the Detroit Auto Show's award for the 2025 midsize SUV.
"There's a small window in the back. That's that nostalgic piece. The reason it's there is to implement that old-school bus style." - tca/dpa
