Covid-19 Cancels Detroit's Most Anticipated Event: Detroit Auto Show

The Covid-19 virus has caused the cancelation of one of Detroit’s most anticipated events in modern Motor City history. Like with most cities and industries, their economies have taken a huge hit due to the pandemic. But for Detroit and the surrounding regional area, having the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) and the Grand Prix canceled is the worst thing that could happen to a city that has just started to really hit its stride. 

Detroit has suffered for many years economically, and with the new build of the Little Caesar Arena, Detroit has really started to see an up-turn. The arena gave the Red Wings a new place to play and brought the Detroit Pistons back to Detroit from their previous home at the Palace in Auburn Hills, MI.

The North American International Auto Show 

This year would have been the first year for the NAIAS to be held in June instead of in January. Last year the show experienced 35,000 fewer guests than the previous year due to a massive snowstorm. And it’s these kinds of wintery problems that the NAIAS has always experienced when trying to get and keep attendance up. 

Even with the 35,000 fewer guests, the NAIAS boosted Detroit’s and the regional economy with revenue gains of over $430 Million, the equivalent of two Super Bowls. Restaurants and hotels all reap the rewards of this extraordinary event. But as of right now, with all these businesses already hammered with the restrictions of the Covid-19 virus, the cancellation of the NAIAS will only make things worse. 

More Problems For NAIAS 

The second biggest reason for the move to June other than attendance was to bring back some of the automakers that have backed out of the event in the past few years. As attendance declined because of weather and other reasons, a lot of foreign automakers have backed out of the event - with fewer people - fewer people to promote their product to. Moving the NAIAS to June from January was supposed to be the game-changer. 

Having the event outside during the summer would allow interested consumers to take vehicles for a test drive, experience new self-driving cars in the flesh, and give more room for automakers to set up their displays. Also, adding to the fun, there was going to be off-road events at the TCF Center and Hart Plaza, rally cars were to "drift" on the rooftop of the convention center, the Motor Bella festival of Italian and British cars on Broadway, live music, and more. 

Unfortunately, if you show up to any of these places this year, you’ll find that they are either closed or turned into a temporary field hospital for Covid-19 patients. 

Detroit Grand Prix At Belle Isle

The Detroit Grand Prix was also cancelled. The Grand Prix was to be held May 29-31 just before the June 7-20 NAIAS was to be held making Detroit a true Motor City again. The two events put together so close at such a nice time of year should have been a great chance for Detroit to get more people down to the city than usual. Gearheads and just curious people altogether would have been able to witness a new Detroit starting to deveolp.  

Unfortunately, like with all cities around the world, the pandemic is affecting all new and exciting things and traditional things that goes on in our cities. And for a city that was finally bouncing back after decades of decline, this will put a big halt on the progress Detroit has made.  

Chevrolet Bolt Electric - North American Car of the Year

Not to be confused with the Chevrolet Volt, which is a hybrid vehicle and uses a gasoline motor to supplement the plug-in electric motor, the Chevrolet Bolt is an electric-only vehicle. The Chevrolet Bolt wins the North American Car of the Year award by winning the race to being the first American-made, mass-market, fully electric car.

The award was announced this Monday at the North American International Auto Show. Several dozen journalists take all the vehicles in the running for a test drive before voting. The Chevrolet Bolt managed to beat out big names that made big buzzes in years past. Names like the Genesis G90 and the Volvo S90 feel behind the Chevy Bolt in performance and price. The world-renowned Tesla Motors with their Model 3 electric car was not in the running because it had not yet made into production.

The Chevrolet Bolt was also named Motor Trend Car of the Year and Green Car of the Year at the Los Angeles Auto Show. After the Bolt won the Green Car Award for environmentally friendly cars, marketing manager Steve Majoros had this to say, "there's been a lot of talk about building an affordable electric car with a 200-mile range that brings electric vehicles to the mainstream, but only one manufacturer has done that, and it's us."

The Chevrolet Bolt gets a Range-Per-Charge of 238 miles. Cheaper by about half the price of a Tesla S and X Model, the Bolt can be purchased for about $37,495 before you receive government tax breaks. You add that in with the luxury of avoiding every gas station you ever pass and you should find yourself with a little extra spending money at the end of the year.

2016 Buick Avista Concept Car

The North America International Auto Show always brings us the latest and greatest new cars, trucks, and SUVs that the auto industry has to offer. They also bring us cool concept cars that may or may not make it into production in the near future. For the 2016 NAIAS, there were many concepts that stood out this year, but perhaps the one concept that stood out the most and has the biggest chance of making it into production sooner than later is the 2016 Buick Avista concept.

A Luxurious Interior Cool Enough For Space Travel 

The Avista is built on the Camaro Alpha chassis, which leaves room on the inside for four passengers to enjoy the comfort of  Mist Gray leather seating inserts, 3-D printed door and seat trim, and exposed carbon fiber and aluminum accents. The future of Buick's IntelliLink technology is also displayed throughout the dash and is controlled by touchscreen controls on a widescreen instrument panel display. The touchscreen technology is also displayed on the center console that stretches all the way to the back seat passengers.


From the driver seat, the driver can feel like he is captain of his own spaceship with the digital futuristic instrumental panel that smoothly integrates into the dash and flows seamlessly with the rest of the interior components. And, in your spaceship like Buick, it may also sound like you are somewhere out in space with the most up-date next-generation QuietTuning and air-quality control, including advanced noise cancellation technology, ionic air purifiers, and aromatherapy.

“There is elegant simplicity in the Avista’s surfaces, which speak to the purity of the car’s performance, and a timeless beauty that’s a hallmark of Buick design,” Bryan Nesbitt, executive director of Global Buick Design says. “It was designed to capture the spirit of the perfect drive for all passengers.”

Driving a Buick Full of Technology and Power
Buick really has not been known for power-punching cars outside of the '86 and '87 V-6 turbocharged Grand Nationals. And before that, you have to go back to the muscle car era, when Buick was producing 455-cu-in torque monsters to find fun fast worthy cars to drive. But Buick knows that Buick fans are ready for some more technology-driven fast and fun cars.

If the Buick Avista makes it to the market the way it sits as a concept, it will receive a 3.0-liter V-6 400-hp twin-turbo engine that will be matted up to an 8-speed automatic transmission. 400 horses are good, especially when you are getting it out of a V-6 that will use Active Fuel Management (cylinder deactivation) with Start-Stop technology to bring you some very good mpg averages. And along with all that awesome power comes an awesome ride, the wide stance and 20'' rims not only help the car look great, but also work perfectly with General Motors' iconic Magnetic Ride Control for nice and tight cornering.

Smooth, But, Bold Exterior Excellence

The exterior profile of the Buick Avista's wide stance gives the vehicle an aggressive sportier look. With the intent to attract younger customers, Buick put a lot of effort into making the Buick stand out with bold and futuristic-looking head and taillights, 20'' aluminum rims, and a big mesh front grill with the Buick emblem front and center.

“The Avista embodies the dynamic soul of Buick,” said Duncan Aldred, vice president of Global Buick Sales, Service, and Marketing. “It is a modern expression of the brand’s heritage of sophisticated performance, communicated with beautiful elegance.” 


A lot of times these cars never even make it into production, and if they do they are deturned, toned-down versions from their concept start. But the market is hungry for a vehicle like this. It was not long ago the Chevy Volt sat in front of us as a concept vehicle and one mesially year later it was rolling off the assembly line, in other words, let's keep our fingers crossed, it could be here in no time.