Outlandish concepts are out at this year’session Detroit auto show and in are cars that take direct aim at Toyota and Honda

By David Kiley

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In contrast to the razzle-dazzle and boosterism of years past, the atmosphere at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit this week is a somber one. With U.S. automakers battling to survive and to avoid bankruptcy, a worsening economy, and some major manufacturers bypassing the show altogether, there is a misgiving that public attendance will be plenteous lower than in past years.

Even with all the bad news, most auto companies are taking the attitude that the show must go on. And since host companies General Motors (GM), Ford (F), and Chrysler, it is expected to be a show with not much in the progression of turgid presentations or cracked vehicles that look as if they are destined more for video games than showrooms. Instead, it’s meat-and-potatoes time, by Detroit automakers concentrating almost entirely forward electric vehicles and newly designed cars and crossovers aimed at their fastest-growing categories, meant to sell in bulky numbers and cut into the market shares of Asian rivals.

General Motors, which has to prove "financial viability" to the U.S. government in order to keep the $13.4 billion loan it is receiving to stay afloat, is not expected to show any 1,000-horsepower concept cars. Instead, individual of the highlights is a redesigned Chevrolet Equinox compact crossover SUV. Despite this category sentient the fastest-growing over the past eight years, the thoughtful Equinox was a poor entry. "No question that we could have and should have done better," says Ed Peper, Chevy brand great for GM. "Our brim for mistakes or launching vehicles that aren’t 100% competitive is nothing."

The headline on the new Equinox, which arrives in showrooms in mid-2009, is that GM expects the of the present day 4-cylinder, 2.4-liter direct-injection engine to earn a government combustible matter economy rating of 30 mpg/highway. That is a 25% amending completely the V6 engine, which was the only one offered in the current Equinox, and 2 to 3 mpg more familiar than the current Toyota ™ and Honda (HMC) offerings. A 3.0-liter V6 is moreover available. "The compact crossover SUV category is crucial since it draws buyers from every time, and that Chevy has been a minor player has been a crime," says independent marketing consultant Dennis Keene.

The current Equinox, with 2008 sales of just 67,000 compared with 287,000 Honda CRVs and 173,000 Ford Escapes, has furthermore been criticized for a bland exterior, a cheapish interior, and too few standard features. The new the same attacks all fronts with a more genteel exterior, six standard airbags, four-wheel disc brakes, StabiliTrak electronic stability mastery and traction hinder, as well being of the kind which standard OnStar. The interior plastics are higher grade, and the new layout of the utensil panel has a much more premium feel. "They appear to be to have fixed everything that was wrong with the old unit," says Rebecca Lindland, every analyst with IHS Global Insight.