This year's 2007
North American International Auto Show was amazing even with
a little lower attendance. The show attracted over 700,000
people during the Industry Preview days, Charity Preview and
the Public Days.
Reasons for the
lower attendance include the economy and incelement weather.
Total attendance figures were 705,226 people. Last year, 759,310
people visited the auto show.
A total of 6,600
journalists covered the event from Cobo Center. They came
from 62 different countries around the world. AmericaJR.com
was proud to have sent six members of our web team to the
NAIAS. Of those who covered the event, Jason Rzucidlo; Gloria
Rzucidlo; Jerome Rzucidlo; Sheila Franklin; Mike Wrathell;
Mike Ismair.
I had the opportunity
to interview the 2007 NAIAS Co-Chairman Carl Galeana. The
interview was held on Monday, January 8th during Press Week
of the auto show. Click
here to listen to my LIVE Interview.
AmericaJR.com's
Web Team added several of the supporting events for the auto
show. I had the chance to cover the FACS conference at the
Detroit Free Press. The topic was "What Drives Detroit?"
It was a great conference that discussed the future of the
U.S. Automotive industry.
Jerome and Gloria
Rzucidlo attended the SAA Conference at the Detroit Marriott
Renaissance Center. It was the 19th Annual Automotive Outlook
Conference. The featured speaker was Jim Press, President
of Toyota Motors North America. Click
here for a report on the SAA Conference.
Mike Ismair and
I attended the AutoWeek Design Forum. The topic was "Design
for Success." Head designers from GM, Ford and Chrysler
spoke about their new product offerings. In addition, keynote
speaker Charlie Hughes talked about the meaning of a brand.
He offered suggestions to Big Three U.S. automakers. Click
here for a report on the AutoWeek Design Forum.
The Industry Preview
days brought in close to 30,000 people. They represented 2,200
companies in the automotive world. Industry Preview days are
held after the media days and just before the Charity Preview.
In an exclusive
interview with NAIAS Co-Chairman Carl Galeana, he said, "From
the perspective, we see a lot of international media now than
we had from 10 to 15 years ago. Most of our media representatives
are all international. It's a big deal."
This year's Charity
Preview raised another $6 million for 11 Detroit -area charities.
There was 15,000 people in attendance at the event, just one
day prior to the public show opened.
According to our
calculations, there was a total of 36 new concept cars unveiled
at the 2007 NAIAS. The most popular concepts included the
Chevy Volt, the Chevy Camaro convertible, the Ford Airstream,
the Rolls-Royce Drophead coupe, the Kia Kue, the Jeep Trailhawk
and the Jaguar Concept XF. Last year's show featured 31 concept
cars.
There was a total
of 40 new production models at the 2007 NAIAS. The most popular
production models were the MINI Convertible Sidewalk, Toyota
Tundra CrewMax, Cadillac CTS, Chrysler Town & Country,
Dodge Caravan, Dodge Viper SRT-10 and the Ford Focus. Last
year's show featured 36 production models.
I had the chance
to meet up with WDIV Local 4 reporter Steve Garagiola during
press week. I also met WJBK Fox 2 reporter Murray Feldman.
On behalf of everyone at AmericaJR.com, I would like to thank
the NAIAS, DADA and John Bailey & Associates for allowing
us to have media passes to cover this great event.
AmericaJR.com
has the BEST Pictures of the 2007 North American International
Auto Show. See all the hot new cars, trucks, crossovers and
SUVs. Click
here to view our Auto Show Photos section. Rated #1 on
Google and Yahoo! for the past five years.
PHOTO
BY JASON RZUCIDLO / AMERICAJR.com
The
Chevrolet Volt is an all electric vehicle. It won the AutoWeek
Editor's Choice Award for Most Significant Vehicle.
PHOTO
BY JASON RZUCIDLO / AMERICAJR.com
Toyota
unveiled the Tundra CrewMax at the 2007 NAIAS. It was designed
to compete with the Ford F-150 and the Chevy Silverado.
PHOTO
BY JASON RZUCIDLO / AMERICAJR.com
Mercedes-Benz
unveiled the sleek Ocean Drive concept car at the NAIAS.
