Show Coverage: Blogging the Montreal International Autoshow

[DannyITR]

The Montreal International Autoshow kicks off today, January 15, 2010. I attended the press day yesterday where automakers unveil their newest creations for the media. To sit through all the presentations is a bit boring to be honest so I'll be giving you a recap of what is there so you know what to expect if you decide to go. I'm trying out a blog format to article written in the first person since it gives a more personal feel compared to the standard article.

The media does the tour backwards so I'll start with the seventh floor and work my way down. The 7th Heaven exhibit is a little smaller this year and somehow Cadillac has managed to infiltrate the supercar room with non supercars. I'm not sure what the Autoshow is thinking grouping these together but I suppose they received a nice kickback from Caddy to do so.

New in the room is the 2010 Bentley Continental Supersport with a bright yelllow paint job. By the way when I say new in this article it signifies the Canadian unveiling of a vehicle by the manufacturer.

You'll find the usual supercars like Ferrari, Porsche, Maybach, Mercedes SLR, Lotus and Aston Martin. Lambo got booted to another floor to make room for Caddy I suppose. The other imposter was the Blue Car which is some sort of new electric vehicle.



Mazda

The theme for Mazda this year in unveiling the Mazda 2 is "Zoom Zoom in a can" or whatever you can translate it to. Naturally there is the cliché green to make you think their cars don't pollute anymore. There are lots of big smiley faced Mazda 3s to sit in and the display is actually quite well done.





Chevy

Yikes where do I start? If I wanted to be in a dealer showroom I'd go there. The blandness of the display is striking and makes you want to leave. I know they just went bankrupt but so did Chrysler and wait til you see their display. Most of the cars are silver to add to the blandness. The Transformers Camaro is there but this is so 2007. New is the 2011 Chevy Cruze which already looks outdated in my opinion.







Buick

Slightly better than Chevy but these are Buicks so who are they trying to impress? Wait, maybe the Mac computer will fool teens into thinking Buicks are cool and hip.






Lambo

The usual from John Scotti. Some interesting color schemes there but not much else to write about.

[DannyITR]

Lotus

New is the 2010 Lotus Evora. They needed something bigger than the other go-karts they sell.





Chrysler

Now here is a display. They have probably the nicest setup at the show and they need to be congratulated. Chrysler has a huge lineup of vehicles which can be difficult to showcase neatly and cleanly, they just went bankrupt and here they've outdone every other manufacturer with nice color combos, not too many of the same car and a great layout. No new vehicles.




Lincoln

New is the ultra ugly 2011 Lincoln MKX and some Cube imitation concept. Lincoln needs to seriously ditch the MK-whatever branding thing they have going because even I as a car enthusiast cannot remember for the life of me what the hell car is which letter. Its not so bad with numbers but man go back to actual names.





Ford

More green themes but a nice display thankfully. Huge problem: the Ford Edge with the chrome mags costs $51000!! Buy a brand new Infiniti FX35 for the same price. Ford unveils the Fiesta for North America and there is a nicely modded Taurus SHO and Fusion to check out.





Infiniti

Infiniti has a great concept coupe there called the Essence and also a G37 that's been hand painted. The 2010 G is unveiled.




Nissan


Not much new here. I couldn't bring myself to take a photo of the Cube because its so ugly. There are nice new headlights on the Altima Coupe however. The GT-R is beautiful but dead to me without a manual gearbox and about $20K off the sticker.



Toyota

Majorly boring display or maybe its the cars themselves. New is the Sienna Minivan that shares the design theme of the Venza.




Scion

Can we buy these here yet? Apparently Toyota plans to bring them sometime this year so they have a booth now. Some nice vehicles in the lineup that should appeal to performance minded buyers and tuners.




Lexus

Nice display with nice cars including the new Hybrid only sedan and GX460 SUV.



BMW/Mini

As usual a very classy booth with nice wood flooring. New this year are the X6 Hybrid and 5-Series wagon.



Mitsubishi

I wasn't expecting much and they delivered just that - not much. Nothing new except this iMiEV electric vehicle which Hydro Quebec seems to have bought. Big deal.




Kia

There is a concept Kia Soul'ster and new Sorento for 2011 which is whatever. Props for hanging in there with a name like Kia though.





Suzuki

New is the Kizashi for 2011 but its a far cry from the concepts they had bearing the same name.





Hyundai

Hyundai always has a nice booth. The two Genessis coupes make the booth look even better and there is also the 2010 Tucson and Sante Fes to check out.



Subaru

Not much new here.




Volkswagen

VW unveils in a "regional unveiling" the 2010 Golf Diesel, Golf Wagon and 2010 GTI.



Audi

Audi likes to show off their LED daytime running lights which I have to say I really like. Its cool because its OEM but don't ever do this to your non-Audi car thinking its cool because you will just look like an idiot. New is the 2010 A3 TDI.





Volvo

Nice looking booth from Volvo. New are the 2011 C30 and C70.





Honda

New is the Accord Crosstour which is the ugliest vehicle at the show. Honda also has a concept P-NUT (Personal-Neo Urban Transport) which looks pretty cool except for the name.




Acura

Acura's displays are always super classy and well done. The ZDX is nicer in person but I don't understand the new trend with cutting your rear passenger's head's off with a clopping roof à la X6.





Mercedes

Nice Dispplay. Check out the 2011 SL S AMG and 2010 Sprinter.

[-=Marc=-]

Nice write-up!

[Centrino]

I'd like to see more focus on the everyday cars not just the exotics - whats new with them etc.

[michal]

Well written, in terms of a quick summary and nicely done pics.

[joe_herz]

Well done. Go write up the TO International Show in Feb.

[2NDGENTEG]

Great job in covering the show! Nice pics too!

[2NDGENTEG]

Will you be at the TO show? If so, let me know and we can grab a drink.

[Speeder_69]

"Honda also has a concept P-NUT"

PsychiatristNET? LOL JK



But nice write up, I saw the Accord CrossTour the other day and almost puked. What a car/thingy.

[2NDGENTEG]

oh yea, and that yellow Lambo SV is insane, it's 670-hp and weighs 250 lbs less than a standard Murcielago.