Events
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The first motor show of the year kicks off with EV supercars, SUVs and swathe of hot new ideas.
THE 2016 Detroit Motor Show begins on Monday January 11, 2016, and Wheels will be on the show floor to bring you the behind the scenes action from Motown as the automotive industry competes for your attendtion. Follow us on Twitter (WheelsAustralia), stay tuned to Facebook and www.wheelsmag.com.au for updates, analysis and opinion.
BUICK AUSSIES had a big hand in drawing the lines of last year’s Buick Avenir large limousine concept, so the question now is whether the Antipodean outpost of General Motors will also have a hand in the latest concept to wear the Buick badge. The US luxury brand will also bring the Buick Envision, a Chinese-built SUV based on the same platform as the next-generation Chevrolet Cruze, along for its first showing. It could point to a potential Holden Captiva replacement.
CHEVROLET (Holden) HOLDEN has confirmed that the next-gen Cruze will be sold here alongside the Europe-sourced Astra in 2017, as the local arm of GM takes a two-pronged approach in tackling the top-selling Mazda 3 and Toyota Corolla. Whether or not that includes the new hatch, to be shown at Detroit, or a sedan – or both – is yet to be revealed.
CHRYSLER MOTOWN’S number three player is expected to pull the covers off a new version of the Chrysler Town and Country people-mover. Even though the new version is expected to seat up to eight occupants, the Chrysler 300-inspired two-box family hauler is classed as a “minivan”, the segment the car-maker invented under Bob Lutz.
HOLDEN: See CHEVROLET
HONDA (ACURA) Honda will unveil a new luxury sports car concept in the US via its sub-brand Acura (the same brand the Honda NSX hybrid supercar will sell under in the US). Known as the Precision Concept, it heralds “the direction for future Acura design; in particular, the next generation of performance-luxury sedans”. Don’t count on it coming here, though.
HYUNDAI Hyundai confirmed the creation of its Genesis luxury sub-brand late last year, and part of the transformation is a replacement for the Equus large car called the G90 – which we’ve already spied in Australia. As well as an atmo 3.8-litre V6 that’s used in the current Genesis sold here, there’ll be a 5.0-litre V8 and a new 3.3-litre twin-turbo V6 to the brand.
VOLKSWAGEN The Budd-E was shown at CES, an electric successor to the legendary Combi that’s connected to the smart home of the future. It boasts the next evolution of digital display, with gesture control, autonomous features and connectivity on a scale not seen in a motor car to date. VW boss Dr Herbert Diess says that it could be a reality ‘by the end of the decade’. Also on the stand will be the Golf R Touch, also showing off a litany of future tech.
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