Click above for more high-res shots of the Volvo S60 Concept
Volvo sales have been flat-out tanking in the U.S., as Swedish metal moved in September 2008 at a 51% lower rate than it did in the same month of 2007. New product should help Ford's (for now) Swedish unit reverse that precipitous slide, the first sample of which will be seen as an S60 concept to be revealed at the Detroit Auto Show in January. We're a couple months away from seeing Volvo's midsize concept, but the Swedes are showing us a sneak peak at the interior to pique our interest.
Orrefors Crystal is the designer of choice to give Volvo a new take on its trademark waterfall center stack. Designers decided on a real crystal surface that stretches from the navigation screen all the way to the back seats. The look is very high-end and definitely draws the eye, but Volvo states the obvious in saying the heavy and expensive crystal is concept-only. One interesting feature of the S60 concept interior is that its uniquely shaped shifter and center stack buttons detach to become a remote control.
We'd guess that the center stack won't stretch all the way to the back seats in production from, as any back seat in the midsize class needs seating for three in order to survive. Speaking of survival, Volvo really needs a terrific S60 to continue in this brutal automotive market, so the concept reveal in Detroit will be highly anticipated.
The 2009 North American International Auto Show in Detroit is looming ever closer, which means the process to choose the 2009 North American Car and Truck of the Year has begun. The organization behind the very prestigious awards has trotted out the list of semi-finalists for both awards, which includes 26 vehicles total with 14 contenders for COTY and 12 for TOTY.
The defining line between each category has been muddled this year by a bunch of crossovers that could be considered either car or truck, though most were placed in the Truck category except for the new Toyota Venza. There are also two diesel-powered models being considered: the VW Jetta TDI and Mercedes-Benz ML320 BlueTec.
The jury that decides the winners is comprised entirely of automotive journalists, two of which are part of the Autoblog family: John McElroy who writes a weekly editorial called Autoline on Autoblog and Gary Witzenburg who writes a weekly editorial called At Witz' End on AutoblogGreen.
While the 2009 TOTY award is likely to go to either the new Dodge Ram or Ford F-150, this year's coveted COTY award will be the most hotly contested one in recent memory. Seriously, which one would you choose? The giant-slaying GT-R? The class-busting Genesis? The Hail Mary pass XF? The techno starship MKS? The Grade-A retro Challenger? You get the idea. Vote for which vehicle you'd like to win in each category below in our straw polls.
John McElroy is host of the TV program "Autoline Detroit". Every week he brings his unique insights as an auto industry insider to Autoblog readers.
BEST KEPT SECRET AT THE DETROIT AUTO SHOW
The Detroit auto show gets unbelievable international coverage from thousands of journalists, and they're all hoping to come out of the show with some kind of scoop. But with everyone attending the same press conferences and interviewing the same executives, that's practically impossible to do. And yet, this year they made it easy for me to get my own scoop, because most of the media ignored what may be the most important design awards in the industry.
click above to view more high-res images of different Genesis grille
When the production version of the Hyundai Genesis was revealed, debate over its styling was a hot topic. Of particular interest to commenters was the grille, dubbed the "Klingon forehead" by some of you, which has a vertical center spine with three horizontal bars that turn down when they meet from either side. We instantly noticed the absence of Hyundai's logo on the grille and surmised that perhaps the Korean automaker felt that the presence of its logo would somehow divert attention away from the levels of luxury and refinement that people might normally associate with Hyundais.
With that in mind, we were surprised to find this Genesis V6 model with a different grille on the floor of the 2008 Detroit Auto Show. When asked what it was doing there, Hyundai responded that the badgeless grille is the only Genesis grille for now, but this version was done up as a kind of market research exercise. We were also told that it had been taken out of Hyundai's display before the Detroit Auto Show opened up to the public.
Well, we've decided to help Hyundai figure out which grille is preferred most by consumers. Vote for your preference below and, who knows, Hyundai might be listening.
click above to view more high-res live shots of the Cadillac CTS Coupe Concept
One bit of news we passed over on the way out the door of COBO Hall on Tuesday was the winners of this year's EyesOn Design Awards at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show. There are four awards given away each year, including Best Concept and Production Car and Best Concept and Production Truck. Cadillac sweeped the car side of things with the CTS-V being honored as Best Production Car and the CTS Coupe Concept named as the Best Concept Car. The BMW X6, meanwhile, was named Best Production Truck and the Chrysler ecoVoyager Concept nabbed the Best Concept Truck award.
The EyesOn Design awards are sponsored by the Detroit Institute of Opthamology and judged by a panel of automotive designers including ex-VP of Design for GM Wayne Cherry, Chrysler's Senior VP of Design Trevor Creed, the renowned Henrik Fisker, GM's VP of Global Design Ed Welburn and Mazda's Franz von Holzhausen.
More after the jump.
[Source: The Detroit Free Press]
Gallery: Cadillac CTS Sport Concept
Gallery: 2009 Cadillac CTS-V
Gallery: Detroit 2008: Chrysler ecoVoyager concept
The 2008 North American International Auto Show press preview has drawn to a close, and now it's time for the public to have its turn in Cobo. As they throw open the doors to the masses, we wanted to give you another opportunity to check out all the concepts and production vehicles that debuted over the past three days. Everything we've covered is listed and linked below along with a corresponding gallery, and at the bottom you'll find the most intriguing, strange and (gasp) educational posts from the show. Enjoy.
Business will be back to normal in the next hour, with the comprehensive – okay, obsessive – coverage of the auto industry you've come to expect. And to those of you that have been following the happenings in Detroit for the last few days, all of us at Autoblog extend our heartfelt thanks. You've helped to make this site what it is: one of the leading automotive resources on the web. And we're not forced to subsist off ramen noodles anymore... so that's a plus.
Click image for high res gallery of the competitors.
Michelin hosts its annual Michelin Challenge Design (design challenge?) to help young designers and their hot designs get some recognition. The emphasis is on innovative thinking, both on the technical and style side. While the challenge doesn't have any direct link to tires, per se, Michelin uses the forum to help push the boundaries throughout the automotive field and get people thinking outside the box. The NAIAS contest focuses on making "smaller vehicles safer particularly in urban environments." One can make the argument that producing smaller, more efficient cars has a direct impact on tire design and tread wear, but we hardly care about Michelin's motivation here and just enjoy looking at futuristic concepts. This year's entries ranged from the practically plausible to way-out-there wild as you'll see in our gallery below.
The full press release and the winners in each of the two categories Michelin recognized are posted after the jump.
click above for high res media and live images of the new SLK
Mercedes Benz showed off its newly-restyled-for-'09 SLK350 (closed roof) and SLK55 AMG (open roof) in Detroit this week. While the platform remains the same, the cars feature restyled noses and tails that bring the mini roadster into line with the company's SL and SLR uber roadsters. Whether or not it's an improvement we'll leave up to you to decide. While the non-American markets will get the option of selecting an SLK200 Kompressor or SLK280 model, we will need to be content with the thoroughly revised 3.5L V6 or unchanged 5.5L V8 editions, with 305 or 360HP respectively. No matter which SLK suits your needs, you'll still get that nifty vario-top that goes from wind-in-the-hair convertible to cozy coupe in a blink. You'll also get new "direct-steer" suspension geometry, a new interior, and the company's new "NTG 2.5 generation of audio and telematics componentry." You can read more about that in the press release that follows the jump. For now we'll leave you with our gallery of live and media pics.
Click image to see the Five Axis Scion xD Toy Crane in action
Those of you who attend your local auto show every year know that the Scion booth is always loaded with free swag for showgoers. This year, in addition to the free goodies at the desk (knit beanies, a DJ mix CD), we noticed a line of hacks behind what looks like an xD tuned by Five Axis. A closer look reveals why people are lining up: that's no regular xD, it's a toy crane! The car is literally filled with plush tC, xD, and xB replicas. Best of all, it's free and the claw is modified so that you have to be profoundly untalented to not come out a winner every time. Check out the gallery below to see how free toys happen over at the Scion booth. The photos run in order, so start with number 1 and click through.
Sister site AB Green did a post on the Tang Hua clan yesterday, but we had to get in on the fun, too. A trio of bright yellow Dr. Suess-mobiles are being displayed by the Chinese company in the basement of COBO. As you might imagine, Chinese cars don't necessarily get that much respect here in Detroit, but when they look like these three Disneyland rejects, showgoers can't help but smile. Or laugh. And they don't even have the decency to run on dead dino juice, so that just makes them even more comical here in Motor City. Each of these three "neighborhood electric vehicles" has its own charms, but we tend to like the amphibious one above the best. And what better customer to espouse your product than the "Renowned environmentalists - President Bush..."
[Source: AutoblogGreen]
Gallery: 2008 Detroit: Tang Hua Chinese electric vehicles
The 2009 North American International Auto Show in Detroit is looming ever closer, which means the process to choose the 2009 North American Car and Truck of the Year has begun. The organization behind the very prestigious awards has trotted out the list of semi-finalists for both awards, which includes 26 vehicles total with 14 contenders for COTY and 12 for TOTY. 
Sister site AB Green did a post on the 
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In the Autoblog Garage: 2009 HUMMER H3T Alpha
In the Autoblog Garage: 2009 Mercedes Benz C63 AMG
In the Autoblog Garage: 2009 Hyundai Genesis
