Thoughts about cars ---- from the Canadian International Auto Show
02-22-17, 09:49 PM
#1
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
Thoughts about cars ---- from the Canadian International Auto Show
We attended the Canadian International Auto Show this evening. We received a special invitation from Genesis Canada who provided us with free tickets ($46 value) and free gift courtesy for signing up to their newsletter a few months ago.
This was first Auto Show I have attended since 2005 I believe in Detroit (unless I went to another one which I do not remember).
Viewing and interacting with all the different brands within the same venue and floor space really gives you a perspective of what the brands are trying to do, which brands work, which ones don't and you even get some preconceived biases either reaffirmed or even challenged.
Some of the winners and losers listed below. In no real order
Volvo is making some nice interiors and very interesting designs.
Honda/Acura had a really large presence. The new NSX is really nice. Acura Precision Concept was very impressive.
Subura had a huge display for their brand. A nice new concept in the Viziv - 7 concept SUV.
Mazda had some nice models. Their new CX7 is very cramped inside. Thought it would feel larger but it wasn't. Mazda is really trying to push premium with their new SUV. Their cars sit lower than others and they door feel higher, this was also discussed on Motorweek.
The Ford brand display was massive. They also had lots of room spaced out between their cars and trucks. The absolute best door closings out of any car or brand were the F150/250/350 allumunum doors. Wow they felt impressive. New F350 listed for eyepopping $94K CAN as was very impressive. i can't believe the price however it did include diesel.
Buick, why on earth did GM not green light the. Avenir. What an incredible car. Buick was the only brand with an onsite espresso bar.
Chevrolet had some nice quality. Lots of different models. You can really see how big of a brand they really are.
We did not visit GMC, or Dodge.
Toyota, (my biases were challenged). After seeing some of the trucks from GM and Ford. I cannot believe how flimsy and cheap the doors of the Tacoma feel. Interior of the Taco is good but seriously, no height adjustment. I think there was no other model in the building lacking this feature.
Tundra is a pathetic attempt at full size trucks after sitting in the Ford and Chevrolet trucks. Doors feel cheap, plastics feel cheap. Faux wood felt cheap. I cannot believe how much better the domestics area.
Biggest Toyota surprise. The Toyota Mirai looks amazing in person. So many cool details to the exterior. Interior is solid. There were some nice good dual hood struts (mmarshall) should love that. If you see the hydrogen system and compare it Hyundai Tucson, you can see how compact it is.
Biggest Toyota disappointment, the new Camry's. They do not look like Camry's from the past and I think they will suffer in sales. The wheelbase looks longer too. i just was not impressed.
KIA had some nice quality. Their Cadenza seemed pricey but the interior looked good. The new Stinger was nice looking. But not sure it will sell for the price they are asking.
Lexus was interesting. The RCF and RC were getting the most attention. Same with the LX.
The new LC500h was utterly spectacular, at $118K CAN in comes one way and that is loaded. This car will do so well. You have to see the LC in person to understand that all of the past Lexus models are a tier behind after this model. The LC is the real deal and it is on every level as a $150K +++ Mercedes. The future for Lexus is going to be impressive and it will get a lot more expensive as well.
The Lexus kinetic seat was interesting.
The Lexus LF-LS fuel cell concept was impressive.
BMW was boring, it just felt like I was inside a dealer. So too was Porsche who locked all their cars.
Lincoln was really cool. All of their cars were the same color of blue and there was a design theme of purple going on. Again, like Ford there was a lot of room between cars. Lots of space. A really nice display set up and the Continental received a lot of attention and had the best heft to the doors. New Navigator concept was worriesome.
Sadly, Genesis was not very impressive after viewing so many other cars. While the cars were nice, the dashboards feel busy. Their concept car was interesting but overall, the cars don't feel up to the same level of design as Audi, BMW or Mercedes.
Cadillac was a huge dud. The CT6 did not seem impressive after sitting in so many other cars. The female press workers also had the worst leather full length skirts I have ever seen. They looked so bad.
Jaguar was very impressive. Their flagship is the real deal.
Alfa Romeo was kinda boring.
I will say that when you see all the brands under the same roof, you can see what brands and models are living off their past reputations, Tacoma is one of them. General Motors had some excellent quality, so did too did Ford. BMW/Audi/MB and Jaguar where the only brands that were selling toys and apparel.
A few parting notes:
Only brand that did not separate their main brand from their luxury brand was Acura/Honda.
Toyota and Lexus were two booths apart
Lincoln Ford were apart
VW and Audi were on two different floors.
There was no Lexus LS460 on display which was odd.
Toyota and Lexus have clearly separated themselves from each other.
The majority of brands allowed you to interact with their infotainment screens. Toyota and Lexus were not one of them.
Biggest Takeaway: Engines, sizes, and power are less important that brand design and coherence.
Top 5 Surprises: Toyota Mirai, Jaguar XJ, Ford F350, Fiat Spyder, Buick Avenir
Top 5 Disappointments: Toyota Tacoma, Toyota Tundra, Genesis G80, No Lincoln Black Label, Acura
This was first Auto Show I have attended since 2005 I believe in Detroit (unless I went to another one which I do not remember).
Viewing and interacting with all the different brands within the same venue and floor space really gives you a perspective of what the brands are trying to do, which brands work, which ones don't and you even get some preconceived biases either reaffirmed or even challenged.
Some of the winners and losers listed below. In no real order
Volvo is making some nice interiors and very interesting designs.
Honda/Acura had a really large presence. The new NSX is really nice. Acura Precision Concept was very impressive.
Subura had a huge display for their brand. A nice new concept in the Viziv - 7 concept SUV.
Mazda had some nice models. Their new CX7 is very cramped inside. Thought it would feel larger but it wasn't. Mazda is really trying to push premium with their new SUV. Their cars sit lower than others and they door feel higher, this was also discussed on Motorweek.
The Ford brand display was massive. They also had lots of room spaced out between their cars and trucks. The absolute best door closings out of any car or brand were the F150/250/350 allumunum doors. Wow they felt impressive. New F350 listed for eyepopping $94K CAN as was very impressive. i can't believe the price however it did include diesel.
Buick, why on earth did GM not green light the. Avenir. What an incredible car. Buick was the only brand with an onsite espresso bar.
Chevrolet had some nice quality. Lots of different models. You can really see how big of a brand they really are.
We did not visit GMC, or Dodge.
Toyota, (my biases were challenged). After seeing some of the trucks from GM and Ford. I cannot believe how flimsy and cheap the doors of the Tacoma feel. Interior of the Taco is good but seriously, no height adjustment. I think there was no other model in the building lacking this feature.
Tundra is a pathetic attempt at full size trucks after sitting in the Ford and Chevrolet trucks. Doors feel cheap, plastics feel cheap. Faux wood felt cheap. I cannot believe how much better the domestics area.
Biggest Toyota surprise. The Toyota Mirai looks amazing in person. So many cool details to the exterior. Interior is solid. There were some nice good dual hood struts (mmarshall) should love that. If you see the hydrogen system and compare it Hyundai Tucson, you can see how compact it is.
Biggest Toyota disappointment, the new Camry's. They do not look like Camry's from the past and I think they will suffer in sales. The wheelbase looks longer too. i just was not impressed.
KIA had some nice quality. Their Cadenza seemed pricey but the interior looked good. The new Stinger was nice looking. But not sure it will sell for the price they are asking.
Lexus was interesting. The RCF and RC were getting the most attention. Same with the LX.
The new LC500h was utterly spectacular, at $118K CAN in comes one way and that is loaded. This car will do so well. You have to see the LC in person to understand that all of the past Lexus models are a tier behind after this model. The LC is the real deal and it is on every level as a $150K +++ Mercedes. The future for Lexus is going to be impressive and it will get a lot more expensive as well.
The Lexus kinetic seat was interesting.
The Lexus LF-LS fuel cell concept was impressive.
BMW was boring, it just felt like I was inside a dealer. So too was Porsche who locked all their cars.
Lincoln was really cool. All of their cars were the same color of blue and there was a design theme of purple going on. Again, like Ford there was a lot of room between cars. Lots of space. A really nice display set up and the Continental received a lot of attention and had the best heft to the doors. New Navigator concept was worriesome.
Sadly, Genesis was not very impressive after viewing so many other cars. While the cars were nice, the dashboards feel busy. Their concept car was interesting but overall, the cars don't feel up to the same level of design as Audi, BMW or Mercedes.
Cadillac was a huge dud. The CT6 did not seem impressive after sitting in so many other cars. The female press workers also had the worst leather full length skirts I have ever seen. They looked so bad.
Jaguar was very impressive. Their flagship is the real deal.
Alfa Romeo was kinda boring.
I will say that when you see all the brands under the same roof, you can see what brands and models are living off their past reputations, Tacoma is one of them. General Motors had some excellent quality, so did too did Ford. BMW/Audi/MB and Jaguar where the only brands that were selling toys and apparel.
A few parting notes:
Only brand that did not separate their main brand from their luxury brand was Acura/Honda.
Toyota and Lexus were two booths apart
Lincoln Ford were apart
VW and Audi were on two different floors.
There was no Lexus LS460 on display which was odd.
Toyota and Lexus have clearly separated themselves from each other.
The majority of brands allowed you to interact with their infotainment screens. Toyota and Lexus were not one of them.
Biggest Takeaway: Engines, sizes, and power are less important that brand design and coherence.
Top 5 Surprises: Toyota Mirai, Jaguar XJ, Ford F350, Fiat Spyder, Buick Avenir
Top 5 Disappointments: Toyota Tacoma, Toyota Tundra, Genesis G80, No Lincoln Black Label, Acura
Last edited by Toys4RJill; 02-22-17 at 10:32 PM.
02-22-17, 10:22 PM
#2
Lexus Champion
Great summary thanks! You must have a good memory.
02-23-17, 05:55 AM
#4
Lexus Fanatic
That was an excellent write-up. 
It's nice that you got free tickets, too, like me and my friends do here for the D.C. Show. Typically, Ford, Chevy, and Toyota will have the largest displays, simply from the sheer size of the companies and number of vehicles they offer.
I agree with the vast majority of your assessments of the different vehicles and brands at the show...indeed, many of your comments echoed my own in previous posts, though you did get to see a few vehicles there at the Canadian show that I did not at the D.C. show. (I don't remember the CX-7 being here, for example).
It's nice that you got free tickets, too, like me and my friends do here for the D.C. Show. Typically, Ford, Chevy, and Toyota will have the largest displays, simply from the sheer size of the companies and number of vehicles they offer. I agree with the vast majority of your assessments of the different vehicles and brands at the show...indeed, many of your comments echoed my own in previous posts, though you did get to see a few vehicles there at the Canadian show that I did not at the D.C. show. (I don't remember the CX-7 being here, for example).
02-23-17, 07:19 AM
#6
Pole Position
I liked that Nissan concept with the suicide doors too. I went with a friend on Wed but he had to bounce early, so I might go again on Sat to spend more time at a few other OEMs.
The Lexus booth had the friendliest staff of all the makes I found. I signed up for the contest to win an IS.
The Lexus booth had the friendliest staff of all the makes I found. I signed up for the contest to win an IS.
02-23-17, 09:52 AM
#7
Lexus Test Driver
That was an excellent write-up. It's nice that you got free tickets, too, like me and my friends do here for the D.C. Show. Typically, Ford, Chevy, and Toyota will have the largest displays, simply from the sheer size of the companies and number of vehicles they offer.
I agree with the vast majority of your assessments of the different vehicles and brands at the show...indeed, many of your comments echoed my own in previous posts, though you did get to see a few vehicles there at the Canadian show that I did not at the D.C. show. (I don't remember the CX-7 being here, for example).
It's nice that you got free tickets, too, like me and my friends do here for the D.C. Show. Typically, Ford, Chevy, and Toyota will have the largest displays, simply from the sheer size of the companies and number of vehicles they offer.I agree with the vast majority of your assessments of the different vehicles and brands at the show...indeed, many of your comments echoed my own in previous posts, though you did get to see a few vehicles there at the Canadian show that I did not at the D.C. show. (I don't remember the CX-7 being here, for example).
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02-23-17, 11:06 AM
#9
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
02-23-17, 11:08 AM
#10
Lexus Fanatic
02-23-17, 11:17 AM
#11
Lexus Champion
I agree that the CX 9 feels cramped inside - Especially for a 3 row SUV. I've read a couple of articles saying it's not meeting sales expectations primarily due to the interior size issue. Otherwise, a nice vehicle both inside and out.
02-23-17, 12:13 PM
#12
Lexus Test Driver
Especially considering the length is longer that most of its target competitors in that segment. Interior space, plus the fact that features like panoramic sunroof, heated rear seats, heated steering wheel, and a few others, and no V6, I think are turning away likely customers--even though priced competitively. I'm not sure about Pathfinder, but all other Japanese and Korean competitive vehicles offer these features at the top of the line.
02-23-17, 12:13 PM
#13
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
Did you sign up for Lexus? They gave us a key card to visit each car. You tap the key card on the cars display box. They were the only ones using this technology.
02-23-17, 12:18 PM
#14
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
Especially considering the length is longer that most of its target competitors in that segment. Interior space, plus the fact that features like panoramic sunroof, heated rear seats, heated steering wheel, and a few others, and no V6, I think are turning away likely customers--even though priced competitively. I'm not sure about Pathfinder, but all other Japanese and Korean competitive vehicles offer these features at the top of the line.
I was not away that it was not meeting sales expectations.
02-23-17, 12:20 PM
#15
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
I agree, but what stood out about Ford and Lincoln was that their seemed to be so much walking space between cars. Similar to Chevy. Toyota was missing the Toyota Sequoia. Lexus was without the LS460. But they both had their concepts on display.