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2004 New York Auto Show: Concept Vehicles
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| The Stuff of Dreams |
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| Updated |
Mar 17, 2005 19:41:50 |
| Rating |
 281 ( -3 -1.06% ) | | Author | Kate McLeod |
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Description:
Concept vehicles are the stuff that dreams are made of. They may be serious experiments in design. They may be "hold-your-breath," they may be part fun, and increasingly, they may be "take a good look because we're going to build this sucker." Different auto companies see concepts differently.
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Concepts at the recent Detroit Auto show showed some differences: readiness from Honda with a concept for their coming pickup truck, bravado from Chrysler debuting the ME Four-Twelve 850 horsepower sports car, fun from Volkswagen with Concept T, a dune-buggyish roadster. Range Rover's Ranger Stormer won the door prize--for a split door that opens vertically at the top and folds down on the bottom.
But there's trouble in the world of concepts. For example, BMW's director of design, Chris Bangle, explains that his company uses concepts three ways; for design research (which translates on the auto show floor as the wild stuff), to show competency and, third, as a pre-launch exercise to test the market
"What's happened is that the [design research] concept is not understood, or understood only in terms of ridicule," says Bangle. "The last real concept that we did was the X Coupe. We got criticized because we were the only ones doing it. I have a bunch of concepts in the basement but we don't bring them out."
Mark Reuss, Executive Director Architectural Engineering, GM Performance Division at General Motors, doesn't agree. "I think if you walk through the Tokyo show there are huge numbers of concept vehicles being used as design research. There are bad concepts that yield bad research and you have to recognize that and that there are other ways to do research other than to spend $1.5 million on a concept.
"Concepts are an art form towing the line between what you would like to do and what you can engineer," he says. "The widely hailed Cadillac Sixteen concept is an example of that because it shows what the company can do.
"And GM has changed its concept approach over the past few years," Reuss says. He means less wild stuff "and more based on engineering, which gives us the confidence that it's something that can be built."
"There was a time when a concept car was a free expression," say Lori Queen, Vehicle Line Executive (VLE) for small cars at General Motors.
"Today concepts are more grounded in reality. When we showed the Solstice [a two-seat Pontiac sports car] concept two years ago, it was built with GM parts." Thus when the show car concept was a hit, GM could seriously consider building it, she explains.
Then GM developed a new "architecture" (GM's word for the platform) that it could use for a number of vehicles, not just the little Pontiac.
"We had to build a business case for the Solstice but we knew we could go really fast because it was built with existing GM parts."
Look at three concepts to see their impact:
2004 Auto Show Gallery
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That GM Solstice: The big auto maker hired Robert Lutz, the ex-Chrysler president to save its cars from dying of boredom. He immediately ordered up the Solstice concept for the 2000 Detroit auto show just a couple months away. The concept was a hit, and Lutz pushed in into production. It will roll out in about a year and add excitement to the Pontiac line, which was fading.
Look at Chrysler's Dodge Viper. A show car that caused so much excitement that Chrysler (Lutz again) ordered it into product. Not many are built, but Chrysler was in financial a trouble when it happened. When the Viper came out, the Wall Street Journal, on its page one, called it the symbol of Chrysler's turnaround. Contrast that with the 1990 Plymouth Voyager concept-a vehicle that split into two separate cars.
Then there was the Jaguar F type, possibly the most beautiful sports car concept ever, and such a hit that the Ford chief executive said only stupidity-his word-could keep the company from building it. Well, Ford couldn't build it. It was beautiful but it was pure concept, something that couldn't be built.
But craziness isn't all bad. Toyota's design boss Kazua Okamoto, thinks his company is just too straight-laced. "At Toyota, we could be crazier. We're not crazy enough. The concepts have to go through a review process reviewed by middle aged men like me. By the time we go through the review process, the concepts get less crazy."
More recently, Toyota's show vehicles such as this year's Detroit big pickup truck, the FTX with its built-in toolboxes and tailgate ramp, have been serious styling exercises. They allow designers to flex their creativity, but also allow them to try out concepts that might actually see production one day.
A Chrysler designer says that Daimler Chrysler's design honcho, Trevor Creed, has a looser approach. He gives his designers hard points (meaning that the vehicle will fit on a particular assembly line) or tells them what market segment he's interested in, but then they are free to experiment.
Example: Chrysler wowed the press with its hand built ME Four-Twelve, meaning four turbochargers on 12-cylinder with 850 horsepower. Executives make clear that Chrysler might build the super car if it's a hit.
That doesn't make sense," says Helmut Panke, BMW AG Chairman. "Why would a company that builds and sells mass market cars present such a vehicle," he says with dismay. "Concepts should have something to do with your business."
Volkswagen's Concept T is a "message car" says chief designer Murat Gunak. The T is a dune buggy like all-wheel-drive vehicle with wing doors that swing upward. So what's the message?
"For America, we really wanted an expression that would remind people of our heritage," says Gunak, "of making simple driving machines that reflect the joy of the car." That's pretty consistent with what VW's business is all about.
"Look to the roadster, says Gunak, to see the start of our new era of design. It shows hints of what's to come and our new general form language."
There are national differences. The Tokyo Auto Show is full of wild looking vehicles because the Japanese market demands a more experimental look and most advanced technology use from hybrids to telematics. In Europe the focus is much more on cars than sport utilities and lots of diesel concepts.
In America, there's much more feeling that you should take a good look at the latest concept because they're going to build that sucker. |
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