If you follow any car news, you’ll know that the first of the year is when Detroit and others start debuting new cars and new technologies to the public.  Although some manufacturers have already introduced their new babies to the world by fall of the previous year, the public push starts in January. The 2017 season is off to a good start!
Concept cars are my personal favorite, the designs are beautiful.  We get to look at the future of certain cars, even if the design of the car is not exact to the finished product.  Often time, companies will take design cues and customer feedback into account when deciding what makes the final cut.
  • A great one this year is the VW Microbus, now named the VW I.D. Buzz.  It’s a beautiful throwback to the era of a defining vehicle with an extra twist, it’s now electric.  The closer to the concept for the final product, the better!
  • KIA has dipped its toe into the luxury vehicle pool this year with it’s Stinger concept.  A sleek RWD sedan with some very up-market designs, the Stinger will surely get people thinking a little differently about the “bargain” brand.
  • Lincoln, of course, has already started manufacturing its new Continental and it’s beautiful!  The car is a good example of what to expect when seeing a concept to the finished product.  The concept looked like an updated 60’s Continental and the reception was very good.  The finished product doesn’t look exactly like the concept but you can see the influences.
Aside from the concepts, companies roll out the updated versions of their stable that are either on sale now or will be in the near future (usually by the fall.)  With the new designs, comes the new tech.  There’s a number of new additions to existing platforms that are making driving even more of a joy, if you like that sort of thing.
  • Ford has updated its best-selling F150 with 4G/LTE connectivity & a wifi hotspot, a fuel-saving start/stop switch and finally a pre-collision assist and pedestrian detection system.
  • Honda is your rolling nanny with the updates in their minivan, the Odyssey.  It’s got a new “cabin-watch” system so you can see what the little ones are up to and even talk to them via their headsets while connected to the entertainment system.  They’ve also upped the configuration game with innovative seat adjustment mechanics.  Let’s not forget the built-in vacuum that Honda introduced a couple of seasons ago.
  • BMW is among the companies who are expanding the center display into more i-Pad proportions, much like Tesla.  The 5 Series will have a 10.3-inch display that responds to hand gestures and voice commands as well being a touchpad.
  • Audi has their new adaptive air-suspension system to add a touch of smoothness to the ride and to also be able to lower a crossover when going at high speed making it more efficient.
Whatever your taste, hope you head to the auto show when it comes to a city near you!