Autoblog http://www.autoblog.com Autoblog http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.autoblog.com/media/feedlogo.gif Autoblog http://www.autoblog.com en-us Copyright 2009 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[Cobo Hall expansion reportedly cleared, paving way for NAIAS to stay in Motor City]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2009/07/29/cobo-hall-expansion-cleared-paving-way-for-naias-to-stay-in-mot/http://www.autoblog.com/2009/07/29/cobo-hall-expansion-cleared-paving-way-for-naias-to-stay-in-mot/http://www.autoblog.com/2009/07/29/cobo-hall-expansion-cleared-paving-way-for-naias-to-stay-in-mot/#commentsFiled under: ,



It's been a long road with more than its fair share of protracted negotiations and questionable decisions along the way, but the Detroit City Council has finally cleared the path for Cobo Hall to get the much-needed expansion, repairs and ongoing maintenance it's deserved for years. By choosing not to vote on the plan at all, the Council will allow Cobo Hall to be turned over on lease to a regional authority that will oversee the building's day-to-day operations. Says Council President Kenneth Cockrel Jr.:
I know this has been an emotional issue and a controversial issue. But it's real simple: We don't have the money to do this on our own. This thing is a go, and it's something they should be happy about. It's going to allow us to re-position Cobo to make it competitive, to secure the (North American International) Auto Show and attract other kinds of convention business.
With this potential roadblock out of the way, it now seems likely that the North American International Auto Show will indeed stay in the Detroit - assuming, of course, that the world's collection of automakers is willing to continue making the annual trek to the Motor City in January.

[Source: Detroit News]

Cobo Hall expansion reportedly cleared, paving way for NAIAS to stay in Motor City originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 29 Jul 2009 09:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>cobo centercobo detroitcobo expansioncobo hallcobo hall expansioncobo renovationsCoboCenterCoboDetroitCoboExpansionCoboHallCoboHallExpansionCoboRenovationsdetroit auto showdetroit city councilDetroitAutoShowDetroitCityCouncilnorth american international auto showNorthAmericanInternationalAutoShowWed, 29 Jul 2009 09:28:00 EST<![CDATA[REPORT: North American International Auto Show likely to move out of Detroit, see other people]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2009/04/17/REPORT-North-American-International-Auto-Show-likely-to-move-out-of-Detroit-see-other-people/http://www.autoblog.com/2009/04/17/REPORT-North-American-International-Auto-Show-likely-to-move-out-of-Detroit-see-other-people/http://www.autoblog.com/2009/04/17/REPORT-North-American-International-Auto-Show-likely-to-move-out-of-Detroit-see-other-people/#commentsFiled under: , ,



In car-related news that will further disappoint an already reeling city, the chairman of Detroit's North American International Auto Show has gone on record that he is exploring ways to move the event out of the city.

The very public battle to expand the show's home, Motown's Cobo Center appears to have failed for good, after the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the Detroit City Council, in effect killing plans for a $288 million expansion, a plan voted down by council members in February. For his part, city mayor Ken Cockrel Jr. is evidently declining to go to the state Supreme Court to force the issue.

So now, the search is on to take the show to a new venue, likely beyond Detroit's city limits, and potentially beyond the bounds of Southeast Michigan, as well. Automotive News quotes auto show co-chair Douglass Fox as saying:
At this point we need to consider any viable option that might be out there for us... There have been leaders -- (Oakland County Executive) L. Brooks Patterson comes to mind - who have made those overtures. We need to explore those options.
Fox and his team are expected to move quickly, but given the scope of the planning required for a major international auto show, it is perhaps likely that the NAIAS will still be hosted by Cobo next January. Beyond that, though, the city of Detroit looks set to witness yet another auto-related casualty.

[Source: Automotive News - subs. req]

REPORT: North American International Auto Show likely to move out of Detroit, see other people originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 17 Apr 2009 16:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Cobo CenterCobo HallCoboCenterCoboHallDetroit City CouncilDetroitCityCouncilKen CockrelKenCockrelNAIASNorth American Itnerioantl Auto ShowNorthAmericanItnerioantlAutoShowFri, 17 Apr 2009 16:57:00 EST<![CDATA[Michigan's Oakland County to grab NAIAS from Cobo?]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2009/03/31/michigans-oakland-county-to-grab-naias-from-cobo/http://www.autoblog.com/2009/03/31/michigans-oakland-county-to-grab-naias-from-cobo/http://www.autoblog.com/2009/03/31/michigans-oakland-county-to-grab-naias-from-cobo/#commentsFiled under: ,



We can't blame Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson one bit for thinking the North American International Auto Show might be better served by moving locations away from Detroit's troubled Cobo Center. The building itself has been in disrepair for years, with a leaky roof and a poor electrical system generally cited as its most urgent needs. When an agreement was finally reached that would have fixed most of Cobo's many woes and expanded it with an additional 166,000 square-feet of floorspace, we all let out a collective sigh of relief.

Unfortunately, in what our own John McElroy called "a stupefying move at the 11th hour," the Detroit City Council voted down the proposed plan by a five-to-three tally, saying that the $20 million the city would be paid to give up power over the dilapidated building wasn't enough. Naturally, this action drew ire from a number of important sources, not the least of which being the automakers who are growing increasingly fed up about the horrid state of affairs at the Detroit Auto Show.

Here's where Patterson comes into play: "If this thing goes down, I'm done," Patterson has told The Detroit News. "I'm not going to go back to Detroit to try to resurrect the deal. Five years is enough." Unfortunately, Patterson's plan to move the annual event to another location in the Detroit area has a few potential snags of its own. The next largest nearby venue is the Pontiac Silverdome, which is about two-thirds the size and has been empty since the Detroit Lions left the stadium in 2002.

And what does the embattled Detroit City Council have to say about Patterson's proclamations? "He's bullying us as usual... he just wants everything on his own terms" says councilwoman Barbara-Rose Collins.

This is one sordid affair that seems likely to drag on for years with no end in sight.

[Source: The Detroit News]

Michigan's Oakland County to grab NAIAS from Cobo? originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 31 Mar 2009 18:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The latest chapter in the saga of Detroit's dilapidated Cobo Center was written over the weekend during the annual Autorama show. Against a backdrop of gorgeous and valuable hot rods, Cobo itself again became the story thanks to roof leaks that sent dirty water dripping down from the ceiling onto some of the show cars below. The situation angered the show's organizer, who pointed out the abundantly obvious when he told the The Detroit News, "If this isn't addressed, they're going to lose events." Lord knows the facility's been losing exhibitors at its signature exhibition, the North American International Auto Show, over the past couple of years. While some of that surely has to do with the economic climate, many of those same exhibitors still manage to find their way to major-market shows like L.A. or New York.

As to whether the situation has any hope of improving, that's all up in the air. Cobo's future is mired in an ugly political tug-of-war between Detroit's mayor, who supports state-backed renovation and expansion followed by regional control of the facility, and the City Council, which doesn't want to cede any control. Last week, the mayor vetoed the council's rejection of the state-supported measure, and now the council may mount a legal challenge. As usual, lawyers stand to win regardless of the final outcome.

In the meantime, Cobo becomes more of an embarrassment with each passing day. It's hard to lure world-class events to your venue when you need to hang tarps from the ceiling to catch water coming through your leaky roof, which is exactly what happened during Autorama. The Motown city fathers ought to be worried, seeing as how there's a gigantic facility in a legitimate destination city just 237 miles away. We're sure they'd welcome the likes of Autorama and NAIAS with arms wide open.

[Source: The Detroit News]

Cobo problems continue: Roof leaks plague Autorama originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 11 Mar 2009 19:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Click above for a high-res gallery of the Chevrolet Beat Groundhog Day edition

Earlier this week, when General Motors rolled out the very same 3-door Chevrolet Beat concept that it showed back in 2007, we were a bit confused. After all, GM's Ed Welburn teased all of America when he pulled back the tarp on a related (but clearly different) subcompact during NBC's Today Show (video here), only to trot out the same vivid green three-door that has been steadily making the show circuit rounds for some time now.

Well, Kicking Tires has unearthed the back story, and evidently the tarp-pulling session with Matt Lauer revealed a foam model of the production Spark five-door. Understandably, GM couldn't very well drive a foam block up the ramp and onto the stage, so it simply left it out of its press conference and substituted the old concept. We thought GM might quietly put the five-door out on the floor later, so we checked back at their display during yesterday's supplier days, and unfortunately Chevrolet's stand never did get the mockup.

Kicking Tires evidently had to place repeated calls to GM's communications team in order to get them to admit that they had pulled a switcheroo. Eventually, GM's Klaus-Peter Martin noted that: "...any misunderstanding was unintentional, and that the company had always intended to reveal the production Spark in Geneva." That may be true, but we have trouble understanding why the car was teased on national television and a press shot of the five-door was circulated with the Detroit Auto Show press release.

Regardless of GM's intent, we look forward to seeing the production Spark in March, and eagerly await its arrival on America's roads in 2011.

Gallery: Detroit 2009: Chevy Spark, aka Beat


[Source: Kicking Tires]

No Spark: What happened to GM's promised 5-door microcar in Detroit? originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 16 Jan 2009 10:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>CoboCobo CenterCobo hallCoboCenterCoboHallGeneral MotorsGeneralMotorsGMNAIASNorth American International Auto ShowNorthAmericanInternationalAutoShowFri, 16 Jan 2009 10:59:00 EST<![CDATA[Detroit Auto Show: Green driving comes to Cobo's basement]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2009/01/08/detroit-auto-show-green-driving-comes-to-cobos-basement/http://www.autoblog.com/2009/01/08/detroit-auto-show-green-driving-comes-to-cobos-basement/http://www.autoblog.com/2009/01/08/detroit-auto-show-green-driving-comes-to-cobos-basement/#commentsFiled under: , , ,



Unless you're trying to outrun a Corvette in a Fiesta, driving indoors is not typically recommended, what with the toxic fumes and all. Low-emissions vehicles may change that and the Detroit Auto Show's organizers will illustrate it by converting Cobo Center's Michigan Hall into a green test track. Sponsored by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, the MEDC EcoXperience will offer show-goers the chance to drive a variety of environmentally-friendly new vehicles around a forested 1/8-mile test track.

The list of participating vehicles has yet to be confirmed, but it could include some six to twelve different (almost assuredly all American) vehicles, including the Chevy Equinox hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle. Public visitors will have the chance to put-put around the track at 10 mph with a professional co-pilot in between trees and waterfalls. And just in case the low- or zero-emissions vehicles manage to spew a bit more fumes than the trees can convert, there will be air quality monitoring devices in place.

Of course, none of this would have been possible if all those automakers hadn't withdrawn from the show, allowing the Chinese companies that were previously relegated to the Michigan Hall to move upstairs, thus clearing the way for the forest track to be installed. We'll check it out for you next week when the Autoblog caravan rolls into Detroit.

[Source: The Detroit News]

Detroit Auto Show: Green driving comes to Cobo's basement originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 08 Jan 2009 15:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Automakers have been fleeing the Detroit Auto Show in droves over the last few months. Porsche, citing slow sales in metro Detroit, was the first to announce it was pulling out of the NAIAS, but Suzuki, Mitsubishi, Ferrari, Land Rover and Rolls-Royce all followed suit shortly thereafter. While much of the blame can be placed squarely on the broad shoulders of the global economic meltdown, organizers of the event also point to the quickly deteriorating conditions at Cobo Hall and the lack of available space when compared to such venues as the Chicago Auto Show.

Even if they can't fix the economy, the U.S. Michigan Senate has stepped in to fix Cobo. A total of 166,000 square-feet of space will be added to the 700,000 that is already present. NAIAS officials are hopeful that this added room, along with a general tidying up of the joint, will bring those manufacturers back and keep any others from leaving after '09. To reach a deal, a five-member board will oversee Cobo Hall, including the governor of Michigan and representatives from Detroit and Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties. We're sure negotiations will go just swimmingly from here on forward.

[Source: Detroit News]

Cobo Hall expansion plan approved... will NAIAS recover to need the space? originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 23 Dec 2008 18:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The future is looking bleak for the North American International Auto Show, with automakers dropping out like hippies. Nissan and Infiniti were just two among the hoards of car manufacturers - including Mitsubishi, Suzuki, Rolls-Royce, Land Rover and Ferrari as well as Porsche - that have recently announced their withdrawal from the Detroit show. But that's not stopping the show coordinators from continuing their campaign to have Motown's convention center updated as they see the show making a comeback within a few years.

According to show chairman Joe Serra, the downturn in participation for this year's show is just a reflection of the current economic climate. "It would be foolish for us to think this is how the future is going to look." Foolish or not, we can't imagine the Detroit 3 using much of their Congressional bailout cash on convention center renovations while they're trying to stay on their feet and in the black.

[Source: Automotive News - subs. req'd]

Dropouts be Damned: NAIAS insists Cobo expansion still needed originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 26 Nov 2008 09:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>cobocobo centercobo detroitcobo expansioncobo renovationsCoboCenterCoboDetroitCoboExpansionCoboRenovationsdetroitdetroit auto showdetroit motor showdetroit showDetroitAutoShowDetroitMotorShowDetroitShownaiasnorth american international auto showNorthAmericanInternationalAutoShowWed, 26 Nov 2008 09:28:00 EST