Thursday, January 15, 2009

The World's Largest Car Showroom


I was at the North American International Auto Show yesterday, and like everything else associated with the auto industry, it's hurting.

Gone are the big elaborate multimedia displays that make up most of the glitz of the thing. Instead, the automakers are simply displaying their new cars. Granted, that's what NAIAS is supposed to be about, but the end result is that the whole thing simply looks like a giant showroom.

For a "car person," I'm sure the allure is still there. I am not particularly a car person, though, and I like the spectacle of it all. At least the spectacle of what it used to be.

There were some fun funky concepts and new electric cars, but I can't wait for the car companies to recover so we can see more flashy lights and interactive displays again.

2 comments:

Jennifer said...

But the Volt, Alpharat, the Volt. Did you see it? Was it pretty? The chief engineer on that project was an usher in my wedding and has become too busy chatting up Larry Hagman to send me a Christmas card, but I still want to know how his baby appeals to JQPublic.

Okay, I'm going away to look at the aardvark again. I asked for one and MrZ said "no."

alpharat said...

I saw the Volt, and it right perty. Unfortunately, with the cutbacks, I don't think it's presented with the pomp it warrants. It's just there.

Come on, this could be GM's salvation, as well as a big part of cleaning the environment. But really, it's just mixed in with everything else.