Detroit Auto Show 2018: the cars, news, and excitement from NAIAS – The Verge

The 2018 Detroit Auto Show in pictures

2018-01-21T13:00:02-05:00

The Detroit Auto Show has a weirdly duplicitous vibe these days. The biggest companies that attend make sure to talk about things that make them sound future-focused, almost benevolent. They talk openly about autonomy, electrification, and even embracing other forms of transportation. But they do this while doling out product announcements that are very much about meeting the current demands of consumers who, enjoying low gas prices, want trucks and crossover SUVs.

Take Mercedes-Benz, which made the biggest splash of the show with the new G-Class. This mega-expensive off-road SUV is explicitly for the wealthy, and was treated by the company …

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Bill Ford says smart cities aren’t ‘just a science project’

2018-01-18T17:06:15-05:00

In many ways, Ford Motor Company's future is defined by its past. Bill Ford, the chairman of the company, and the great-grandson of its founder, announced plans to invest $11 billion in electrified cars at the North American International Auto Show. I spoke to Ford at the show, who expressed his enthusiasm over the company's shift in direction to a broader vision for transportation than the cars, SUVs, and trucks it currently sells.

I love the idea of the social justice component of smart cities, but how do you reconcile that with the present where there's such a mess with public transportation in so many areas, like New York where I live?

…

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Acura hides a slick Android-based interface in yet another SUV

2018-01-18T16:44:12-05:00

Acura RDX Prototype.

Another auto show, another luxury SUV you're probably going to look at if you're shopping in the $40,000-$50,000 range. This time, it's the turn of the 2019 Acura RDX Prototype, a thinly disguised version of a car that will go on sale in the second half of 2018 and shown for the first time at the Detroit Auto Show.

Acura has been rather lost in the woods lately. Even most of the less expensive Honda models have features such as Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, whereas the supercar NSX has screens that felt dated a decade ago. The new RDX promises more space and performance than the outgoing model that's a rival to the likes of the Audi Q5 an …

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Honda’s HoloLens demo was the first time I’ve found AR to be really useful

2018-01-18T15:27:59-05:00

Honda is offering a simple augmented reality demo at the Detroit Auto Show using Microsoft's HoloLens. It involves strapping on one of the headsets, walking around, and getting into the car, which takes between five to 10 minutes total. And it's probably the most useful augmented reality demo I've had yet.

The demo is really just a fancy new way to show off the specs and features of one of Honda's new cars. HoloLens isn't exactly comfortable. I also didn't have my contacts in, which meant I had to squint through the entire experience.

But I was taken aback by how accurately the headset placed the floating AR elements in and around the car. …

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The Lexus LF-1 Limitless concept is a futuristic rose gold stunner

2018-01-18T12:40:01-05:00

The Lexus LF-1 Limitless concept is gold, though in person it somehow doesn't feel obnoxious. The exterior features nips and tucks and curves, but it doesn't look overly ridiculous. The inside of the car is full of screens and gizmos, and yet it feels fairly realistic, almost familiar.

The UX Concept that Lexus brought to the Detroit Auto Show last year was all of these things that the LF-1 isn't. It was brash, outlandish, and overdone, a concept car so aggressively futuristic that it was hard to see what parts Lexus would be able to translate to any future production vehicles. It honestly felt a little goofy.

That's why the LF-1 is so ref …

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The best, worst, and weirdest cars from the 2018 Detroit Auto Show

2018-01-18T11:36:42-05:00

The Detroit Auto Show is considered by many to be the biggest car event of the year. And while we got a handful of interesting new reveals this year, like the Mercedes G-Class and a trio of new trucks from the Big Three, the show was less about the new models on display, and more about what the automakers were (and were not) saying.

If you looked past all the gleaming new trucks and SUVs, you would hear GM announcing its plan to release a self-driving concept car without a steering wheel or pedals in 2019, Ford talking about investing $11 billion in electric car production (more than double its previous commitment), Ferrari promising to bui …

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It’s a pickup truck showdown at the Detroit Auto Show

2018-01-17T09:33:26-05:00

When I was a teenager, my dad thought it would be a great idea to bring my mom and I along as his guests to the annual Farm Bureau convention. That year it was held in Nashville, Tennessee. It's hard to find a more authentic urban locale to experience agrarian culture than the land of line dancing. My dad wasn't a farmer, though he secretly dreamed of being one. Instead, he invented a marketing campaign that allowed him to make friends with farmers all over the country. Every year, as part of Dodge's sponsorship of the Young Farmers of America, he gave a free Ram pickup truck to one lucky member of the organization that had an award-winning …

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Is BMW going to make you pay for Apple CarPlay every year?

2018-01-16T17:55:36-05:00

BMW 5-series with wireless Apple CarPlay | Harman

Unlike many automakers that offer Apple CarPlay in their new cars, BMW makes you pay for it on all of their models. That's unlikely to change, but it may soon cut a break to those who don't use iOS or don't like Apple's smartphone integration system for the car.

The automaker next year will turn CarPlay into a subscription-based service rather than treating it as a one-time option, Don Smith, technology product manager for BMW North America, told The Verge at the 2018 Detroit Auto Show on Tuesday.

"This allows the customer to switch devices," he said. "A lot of people buy [CarPlay] and think it's okay, but sometimes they stop using it or s …

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Nissan’s Xmotion SUV is rugged on the streets, zen in the sheets

2018-01-16T17:51:45-05:00

The Detroit Auto Show was pretty light on concept cars this year, which maybe is a sign that automakers are more interested in showcasing the cars they actually intend to build than impressing people with their visions of the future. Which, as someone who gets a huge kick out of outlandish futuristic concepts, was incredibly disappointing to me.

Thank god Nissan was here with a totally silly-looking, totally weird concept in the form of the Xmotion SUV crossover. With its American counterparts caught in a truck-measuring contest, the Japanese automaker threw a bunch of ideas together and called it a concept. It doesn't totally work, but it …

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BMW and Mercedes-Benz will also try out subscription plans for new cars

2018-01-16T16:07:15-05:00

2019 Mercedes-Benz G-Class | Photo by Sean O'Kane / The Verge

Not to be left out by rivals, BMW and Mercedes-Benz appear to be joining the world of automotive subscription models that cover all of the fees required with car ownership or leasing under one payment.

Both BMW and Mercedes are expected to announce pilot programs for a subscription service that covers not only car payments, but maintenance and insurance, Automotive News reported on Tuesday. They would join the likes of Audi, Cadillac, and Porsche in offering customers a simplified payment structure and the flexibility to swap to a newer car sooner than a traditional lease or finance plan, or a higher-quality vehicle than a daily rental from …

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