Hulking pickups and super-fast sports cars shared the stage with tiny two-doors and futuristic fuel-sipping concepts at Sunday's kickoff of the North American International Auto Show.
Executives talked up speed and horsepower, then extolled the virtues of alternative fuels and smaller engines as the media previewed the show, which opens to the public Saturday.
Such mixed messages are evidence of an industry in transition, raising the question: What's more important -- going big or going green?
The answer: Both.
Automakers must find ways to meet government mandates to increase fuel economy and cater to a buying public that demands more fuel-efficient vehicles. At the same time, there's still plenty of money to be made from drivers who have not lost their lust for rides offering size, speed and power.
Finding the right mix isn't an either-or proposition for automakers -- they must deliver both fuel efficiency and performance.
"If they don't do that, it's back to 1979 all over again," said Jim Hall, auto analyst and managing director of 2953 Analytics in Birmingham.
Finding the critical combination of fuel-friendly and functional promises to be difficult for automakers and consumers, industry leaders say.
GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz said Sunday that an energy bill passed by Congress last month that requires raising fuel economy standards 40 percent by 2020 will add $6,000 to the price of an average GM vehicle by the end of the next decade.
"It'll cause some hiccup and disturbance," Lutz said.
While Detroit has joined the hybrid game, with each of the Big Three offering some version of a gasoline-electric hybrid, many of the new green technologies touted by the auto industry are costly and still unproven.
GM today will roll out a Saturn version of the E-Flex plug-in hybrid system the automaker wants road-ready by 2010. The Saturn Flextreme would use the same technology as Chevrolet Volt, introduced to much fanfare at last year's Detroit auto show.
GM announced Sunday that it has taken a stake in an Illinois biofuels research firm that aims to widely market $1-a-gallon renewable fuel as soon as 2011.
"Today the focus is on fuel efficiency -- a 180-degree turn from two years ago," said U.S. Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., a longtime auto show attendee. "It's clear the automakers are going to have to stretch to meet the new requirements" imposed by Congress.
Explorer on fuel diet
The paradox was evident during Ford Motor Co.'s press conference. The Dearborn automaker rolled out the most powerful version ever of its popular F-150 pickup, along with a concept for a next-generation Explorer that puts the iconic SUV on a diet and replaces its thirsty V-6 with one of Ford's new EcoBoost four-cylinder engines to achieve a 30 percent increase in fuel economy -- along with significantly reduced carbon emissions. Ford also is planning an EcoBoost option for the F-150 in 2010.
"The environment is an absolutely sexy design trend," Ford's global design chief J Mays later told The News. "It wasn't a few years ago, but it is now."
Chrysler LLC followed suit with the introduction of its equally critical Dodge Ram pickup. Moments after more than 100 longhorn steer took to Washington Boulevard for the pickup's elaborate unveiling, Chrysler Vice Chairman and President Jim Press talked up the merits of good gas mileage and reduced emissions.
"Ram buyers want all the capability and power, but don't want to do that irresponsibly," Press said. "If we are going to be socially responsible, we have to give consumers options which allow them to lighten their impact."
Over at the General Motors Corp. exhibit, a cadre of high-tech, fuel-saving concepts were being shown alongside the fastest-ever Corvette.
Marketing Chief Mark LaNeve couldn't ignore the irony of the changing times evident with the unveiling of the latest Hummer concept.
"You know you've come full circle when you have Hummer involved in a press conference on the environment and sustainability," LaNeve said while showing off the Hummer HX concept. The HX would be the first ethanol-ready Hummer in the lineup and the first to run on a V-6 engine rather than a V-8.
The trend is not limited to U.S. makers. Japan's Honda Motor Co., for instance, took the wraps off the CR-Z, a hybrid sports car concept, and unveiled a prototype of its next-generation Pilot SUV, which is expected to offer enhanced fuel economy.
Trucks part of future
Some of the bigger cars and trucks on display were lingering remnants of years-old product plans, likely to be replaced as automakers tweak their lineups to reflect the new environment.
But while giant sedans and massive SUVs may be fading away, few in the industry see a future without trucks or even one in which Americans demand the same tiny cars that are popular overseas.
"Even under all scenarios that we look at over the next five years, there's no indication that what happened to the full-size van business is going to happen to the truck business," said GM CEO Rick Wagoner.
The continuing presence of a number of gas-guzzling mainstays was not lost on some industry critics.
"They put on a lot of really great window dressing, touting these great concept cars and this great vision," said Nick Mage of Global Exchange, an environmental advocacy group. "But they're not giving any true commitments."
Detroit News Staff Writers Bryce G. Hoffman, Eric Morath and David Shepardson contributed to this report. You can reach Sharon Terlep at (313) 223-4686.
