We sent Alistair Weaver along to the Detoit Motor Show to report back all the latest news and gossip from the halls of the NAIAS.

We sent Alistair Weaver along to the Detoit Motor Show to report back all the latest news and gossip from the halls of the NAIAS.

We sent Alistair Weaver along to the Detoit Motor Show to report back all the latest news and gossip from the halls of the NAIAS.

We sent Alistair Weaver along to the Detoit Motor Show to report back all the latest news and gossip from the halls of the NAIAS.

We sent Alistair Weaver along to the Detoit Motor Show to report back all the latest news and gossip from the halls of the NAIAS.

The Ford press conference was more interesting for what it didn’t say than what it did. Neither Bill Ford nor CEO Alan Mullaly said anything about the impending sale of Jaguar and Land Rover. Nor did they mention Volvo. There was no word of anything apart from the Blue Oval and how wonderful the United Auto Workers Union (one of the primary causes of Ford’s financial woes) really is.

They also talked at length about the development of EcoBoost engines, which are said to provide up to a 20% increase in fuel economy. One of the EcoBoost engines, they proudly exclaimed without any sense of irony, would be a 340bhp V6. It’s hard not to conclude that the Americans don’t quite get this eco business. A twenty per cent improvement on not very much is still not very much.

Is the Passat CC the most pointless car at this year’s Detroit Show? CC stands for ‘Comfortable Coupe’ expect that it’s got four doors. It is therefore something akin to a cut price Mercedes CLS, except that it isn’t nearly as stylish. It’s based on the standard Passat, but is shorter, wider and lower, and promises marginally more interior room. It will also no doubt be more expensive than the regular Passat when it hits the road this autumn. A range of engines will include a flagship 3.6-litre V6, which is likely to cost more than £30k. That’s a huge amount of money to pay for a Passat, even if it is dressed up as a ‘CC’.

I love the boldness of Audi’s turbodiesel R8, but why did they need to dress it in such a ridiculous body kit? It looks like the sort of thing a child would doodle during a particularly dull physics lesson. The R8 is a great looking car, so why ruin it?

Sat down with Land Rover’s Design Director, Gerry McGovern and their Product Development Director Al Kammerer and now feel much more optimistic about Land Rover’s medium term future. Although the company’s been profitable of late, I still felt concerned about the future of a company that relied on the sale of large, thirsty SUVs. Only one of Land Rover’s current range falls out the top, Band G road tax bracket.

This never seemed sustainable and Land Rover’s management, it would seem, agrees. You can read about the LRX concept elsewhere on the site, but beyond its impact as a new, lighter, smaller Land Rover lies some very clever technology that will be applied to all Land Rover and Jaguar models. Electric hybrid and stop-start technology can be fitted to the current range, including the Range Rover and the new XF, promising a massive reduction in fuel consumption and exhaust emissions – possibly as low as 120g/km or 60mpg.

I still think the LRX is coming to market about 2 years too late (it won’t arrive until 2010) but it’s certainly better late than never.

Also worth checking out:

• Land Rover LRX Concept - First Look

   

   

Just to prove that it can be eco-friendly if it wants to, Ferrari is displaying a biofuel version of the F430, draped in the most beautiful girls at the show. Ferrari’s technician tweaked the fuel injection systems and the car’s electronic brain to handle the new juice, and claims a 5per cent reduction in CO2 emissions with a 10bhp increase in power. But it’s not about to go on sale: “we just wanted to show that we could do it in case any market requires it,” said the man from Maranello.