The staff that organizes the North American International Car Show (NAIAS) recently announced the finalist for the event’s North American Car, Utility and Truck of the Year awards.
The 2017 “of the Year” awards will be announced January 9 at the Detroit Auto Show and I plan to be there at 7:45 a.m. to hear the results. Whether the general populous stay awake at night waiting for the outcome of this annual exercise is doubtful, but I can assure you that the automakers with candidates in the mix certainly are.
It’s a big deal to win. Bragging rights are still valuable in the Motor City and the NAIAS’ “of the Year” trophies are prized by all the automakers.
This year’s Car of the Year nominees are Chevy’s all-electric Bolt, Hyundai’s luxury sedan Genesis G90 and Volvo’s S90. The Ford F-series Super Duty, Honda’s Ridgeline and Nissan’s Titan – all pick-ups – are the finalists for Truck of the Year prize. Utility of the Year nominees include Chrysler Pacifica, Jaguar F-Pace and the Mazda CX-9.
The nine finalists were chosen by an independent jury of 57 automotive journalists from short lists of 15 cars, 11 utility vehicles and four trucks.
Last year the Honda Civic won the Car of the Year award and the Volvo XC90 won the combined Truck/Utility of the Year award.
Regretfully each year I’m not asked to be one of the 57 journalists who are polled for their opinions on which of the new vehicles should be nominated for this contest. That doesn’t stop me from having an opinion.
What are my picks? It is a little tougher for me this year than in the past to make a choice. I’m thinking that the Pacifica minivan will win hands down. It is crammed full of dozens of new features including the first plug-in hybrid offering. It’s also nicely designed and is the first all-new Chrysler minivan in seven years.
Volvo won last year with their XC90 crossover, so I’m sure the S90 sedan will be passed over for the Car of the Year Award. That leaves the electric Bolt with its 238 miles of range and the impressive luxury sedan Genesis G90.
I’m predicting the Bolt will win because auto journalist like to reward automakers that take a bold step like GM has done in introducing an all-new electric small car that will cost, after federal tax incentives, under $30,000.
I’m really interested in what truck wins. I don’t think the Nissan Titan is in the running but it is really hard to decide between Ford’s all-new, all-aluminum Super Duty pickup and Honda’s innovative and very attractive Ridgeline pickup. Of the two, I’d rather own the mid-size, practical and versatile Ridgeline with its lockable in-bed trunk and dual-action tailgate. But it’s my guess that the panel of journalists will opt to give the trophy to Ford’s F-150 Heavy Duty.
I’ll be sure to share the winners when I write up my NAIAS report for The Herald Palladium after the January 9 presentation.
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| The excellent eye of photographer Ken McKeown of St. Joseph captures a nest of Dodge Vipers at the 2015 Lake Bluff Concours. The chief engineer of the Vipers, Roy Sjoberg, was the Concours event's featured guest. Vipers are in the news of late because parent company FCA announced this past year that the sports car will be discontinued this coming year. Anticipating a continuing interest in the poor selling vehicles, a North Carolina dealer has ordered 135 Vipers (valued from $97,000 to $159,000 each) of the last batch to be built of the V-10-powered sports car. |
Readers may have read this past summer that Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) will stop building the company’s high performance Dodge Viper sports car this coming year.
Never a big seller, the Viper mostly served as a halo car for the company’s Dodge division. Like its successful domestic competitor, the Chevy Corvette, the 2-seat Dodge sports car appealed to drivers who love a burly roadster with a big engine under the hood, swoopy lines and room for only two.
The Viper – created as a modern Shelby Cobra – delivered on all those points but it never sold in big numbers. The Viper began life unexpectedly back in 1989 at the NAIAS in Detroit as an exotic concept. Media and the public response were instant and positive.
It wasn’t long before the company announced that the company would put the Viper into limited production at its New Mack Assembly plant, (later at the Connor Avenue plant) in downtown Detroit. Surprisingly the production car kept most of the aggressive look and the outrageous V-10 engine of the concept.
The Viper did a great job in improving Dodge’s performance image. It had a lot of fans but the company needed both fans and buyers and that didn’t happen.
Over its lifetime of over 20 years, there were three generations of the car. It came in not only the original roadster but later as a sleek coupe. Multiple performance packages for the Viper made it into a torrid performer suited for any number of racing purposes. Vipers could be created that were pretty much racecars and the car won its share of competitions.
Readers may recall that we featured a “nest” of Vipers at the Lake Bluff Concours in 2015 and was fortunate to have the sports car’s chief engineer Roy Sjoberg as the featured guest. It was at that event that I discovered that Viper owners are a devoted lot and truly love their high performance vehicles.
I mention the Viper in today’s column not only because it is being discontinued but also what I read recently about the unusual actions of a dealer in North Carolina. Apparently the ownership of Gerry Wood Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram dealership in Salisbury, N.C. didn’t get the memo that Dodge Vipers are poor sellers.
According to a recent report in Automotive News the dealership has ordered a stockpile of 135 of the last batch of Vipers built by Fiat Chrysler. That number – 135 ordered – made more of an impact on me when I read that only 149 Vipers remain unsold in Dodge dealer’s lots nationwide!
Obviously a business doesn’t spend millions of dollars to stockpile a product if they don’t expect to find a market. In the Auto News story it was reported that the 135 Vipers will range in price from $96,685 to $159,080. Many have been ordered in unique paint colors ordered through Dodge’s One-of-One customization program.
Anticipating buyers from afar, the dealership says it will offer “VIP pickup” for Viper customers flying into airports in and around North Carolina.
With that modest inventory of Vipers, I’d suggest readers wanting one of the last Vipers better pick up the phone…today.
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