See, the Detroit Auto Show is different from most auto shows. If this show in particular were only about trying to sell cars to people in Metro Detroit, it'd be a non-event — just one in an endless string of regional auto show non-events like the Boston Auto Show and the DC Auto Show. Except, Metro Detroit's the homeplace of the mass-market automotive industry, and that means our show's a little bit different than most.

The Detroit Auto Show isn't about selling cars to the people who come to the public show. No — the Detroit Auto Show is really all about using the carnival-like atmosphere that comes from having thousands of the world's media all in one place as a captive audience to your advantage. In the political world we would call it "earned media." It was what we termed using an event or public moment to craft a message at a relatively "minor" cost — having the news outlets do the work for us. Contrast that with the tens or hundreds of millions of "paid media" it might take via pricey Madison Avenue (or Maple Avenue — depending on which advertising firm we're talking about) commercials and advertisements. Not only is it more cheap to use the "unearned media" route, it comes with an added advantage. Unlike a huge ad campaign, it's usually better able to create the all-important "buzz" necessary to really resonate with the buying public. In the end, the uninformed masses will buy what trusted sources tell them to buy — and often that's the product that's generating the "buzz."

So why is the "buzz" so important? Better question — why do I consider it to be one of the biggest issues we need to address coming out of the 2008 Detroit Auto Show — and why was I disappointed I didn't get to talk about it on the air Sunday morning? Well, it's because the PR teams at the automakers, whether US or otherwise, appear to have forgotten how they get it because they're too busy clinging to this silly little thing that used to work so well for them — their precious "embargoes."

Yup, this tired and old subject again. You see, it used to be that an automaker would make the Detroit show a "jump ball" to the media — the reveal would occur at the show and everyone would get it at once. The outlets all published monthly and everyone was on an equal footing at getting the "news" out first. The product "news" was one part of a full-spectrum of features, and not the a priori subject. Now that's no longer the case come auto show season. But maybe we should get back to that.

It seems to me an automaker should be looking to use the unending thirst for new product information to their advantage by killing embargoes altogether — especially in a buzz-hungry forum like the Detroit Auto Show. And embargoes, being nothing more than an attempt by the automakers to control the media — don't appear to be doing anything but causing harm to buzz-creation. If an embargo will always be broken early and without any coordination whatsoever, wouldn't we think the automakers would seek to get back to a system of control? It seems to me we need to go back to a system where every outlet — the buff mags, the dailies, TV and the internet — is operating with the jump ball again? Wouldn't that create more excitement? Wouldn't that create more buzz? It seems to work well for companies like Apple and their MacWorld — a one day event that all media pays attention to.

The problem with the current Detroit Auto Show is there's no longer any buzz. The journalists in attendance have already seen everything revealed. It's hard to get excited about products we've already seen in embargoed briefings or via leaks of embargoed information. In fact, the one reveal this year that held any excitement whatsoever — that had any self-generated buzz? Why, it was the Cadillac CTS Coupe concept. And how'd that happen? Well — GM didn't provide any embargo access whatsoever. And oh look, they also didn't have any leaks of the product either. Maybe GM and other automakers should remember that reveal next year when they're deciding their auto show strategy. They should probably also remember it's damn hard for a buff-mag to build buzz — but it's really easy for the internet to do it. In the meantime I'm going to go and hunt around to see if anyone's dropped anything into the forums early for the Chicago Auto Show.

"We looked at that, but the amount of change to meet US regulations was going to be quite a lot of money...and the sad truth is, as much as some of us like 'sportwagons', they just don't sell in the US.

"How often do you see an Audi wagon? How often do you see a BMW wagon? How often do you see a Mercedes wagon? The answer is, almost never...they're just not fashionable. I can't explain why."

Best Reveal
While we don't want to hate anymore on Toby Keith and his Ford Truck Man-liness, we have to give Dodge and their team for putting together such a steer humping good time. Hundreds of Longhorn cattle will trump jingoistic country music any day.

ADVANTAGE DODGE RAM

Most Unnecessary Press Shot
We think we heard from Ford PR people at least 1,000 times that you could load a flatscreen television in the back of the F-150 with it's folding seats and roomier cabin. And while that might be a good selling point we get the fucking picture. But just in case we didn't they actually sneaked a press shot of the F-150 with a flatscreen television box inside of it. If that comes with the review vehicle we're keeping it.

ADVANTAGE FORD F-150

Best Feature
There's nothing more we hate than having to go back into a cooler to get our beverage or sub sandwich. That's why we're glad Dodge put a storage area with a drain hole (for ice) on the floor of the rear passenger space. Anyone want a beer? You're out of luck, all we have is the fancy herb lemonade from Smart.

ADVANTAGE DODGE RAM

Best Gigantic Grille
You have to give it to the F-150, though the Ram's grille continues to grow in size, there's nothing that quite matches up to the F-150 in sheer shiny chromeness. And not only can you have the chrome, you can have the chicken-wire grille, full on mesh and the new Platinum Edition's weird electric shaver to mach 3 look.

ADVANTAGE FORD F-150

Best Power

Ford won't release power numbers, towing numbers or MPG numbers. To hell with that.

ADVANTAGE DODGE RAM

WINNER

So far, inconclusive. Look for a real head-to-head comparison when the cars are actually drivable.

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The Detroit Auto Show was an absolute hootenanny of reveals, confirmed rumors, shattered expectations, and free tea sets. Of course, we handed out grades to automakers. And you, dear readers? Which ones did you think flunked? Which soared? And which aimed squarely for the mediocre middle? Don't hold back. Spare the rod and spoil the child.

The organization decided the best way to serve the duty and keep operational firetrucks ready for emergencies at the same time would be to set out to purchase and refurbish a classic pumper truck. Seagraves were the predecessor the the later dominant Mack offerings, but at the time the Detroit Fire Department owned about 80% of the Safety Sedans ever made. The example we see here was one of the early Seagraves in the DFD fleet of 87 total.The original chassis has been replaced with a modern one from Mack, and Chrysler was generous enough to contribute a new Detroit Diesel power plant. Nearly four years of labor and dedication have gone into getting the truck to this point and the craftsmanship is unbelieveable. We're sure when it's finished, the hours of hard work from countless volunteers will be well worth the effort. If you'd like to contribute the effort or just want to know a bit more, you can go directly the Detroit Firemens Fund website.

Audi
A-
Most of us loved the breakfast sausages served in the Audi cafe each morning of the show. They were as delicious as the Audi R8 V12 TDI — which just staring at gave us more enjoyment than almost anything else at the show. The two-liter Audi TTS goodness was nothing to sneeze at either. But Wert kind of wishes the sausages had been beef.

BMW
B
Flat, but competent. The new X6 "sport activity vehicle" looks perfectly tasty and should be just the ticket for beautiful folk who value precision, performance, and whatever the eff "sport activity" is (sounds clean, could be dirty). On the MINI front, the already-much-viewed Clubman showed up again, essentially unchanged. Soooo... how about a diesel possibility? Or something? Anything? Bimmer? Bimmer?

BYD
A-
When Build Your Dreams revealed their Ferrous Battery-powered Hybrid they hoped that, as one of the smaller Chinese manufacturers, they'd get a little attention. Just to make sure, the company's Chairman took one of our writer's on the ride of their lives. Did it work? Ask the people that read the NY Times business section. Their young exec is so scoring.

Changfeng
A+
Dadaist press releases from thisambitious Chinese carmaker. Hysterical, borderline propaganda, for the second year in a row. Bravo, Changfeng, and bravo to your legion!

Chrysler
B
Fugly in-the-flesh concepts, but the one-two combo of the now-legendary horny cattle-drive debut more than made up for it. Now if only they can get those concept cars a powertrain that's not powered by powdered unicorn horns. Although we're pretty sure the pixie-dust emissions aren't too bad for the environment.

Ferrari
B-
Ferrari's new F430 Scuderia, shown in Detroit in stunning Avio blue, makes our knees buckle. But even that sublime machine couldn't gild a halfhearted attempt to join the global greenmarket. The company showed a prototype Ethanol-powered F430 Spider sporting a slight power boost and a single-digit reduction in emissions. Nice, a grass-colored logo.

Fisker
B+
Erstwhile BMW and Aston Martin designer Henrik Fisker showed off the Karma, an imposing luxury sedan that shares a series-hybrid drivetrain with a Delta Force recon vehicle. With a reported $10 million investment from Sili-valley heavyweight Kleiner Perkins, Caulfield and Byers, Fisker could pick up where the imploding Tesla Motors leaves off. Deduction for risk of vaporware.

Ford Motor Company
C+
A gloomy pall extends across the Blue Oval as it struggles with an almost $12 billion loss during this past fiscal year. And it doesn't help they're the first automaker revealing product on the first day of the show, but by gum, they did their darndest. They've got the awhmighty new 2009 Ford F-150, and if they have to make a go of it on "an American icon" like Knight Rider's KITT, so be it. Oop, wait a sec... there was the Lincoln MKT reveal too. Hope, sorta. Hey, anyone see Mercury anywhere?

Geely
Fucking A!
For sure, the most sarcastic dang A we'll ever dispense, due entirely to Geely's swagadelic tea set. We didn't have the instruments to check it for lead content, but it looked safe enough and didn't dissolve when we added vodka. In a shameless display of retro-Anglophilia, they also brought a London cab. Bully!

General Motors
A-
Arguably the hometown hero of the show. Whether the General was wowing the crowd with a largely unexpected, and sharply attractive, CT Coupe, or walking away with the North American Car of the Year award with the Chevrolet Malibu, or turning aging auto journalists to adolescent dragons with the Corvette ZR1 and new 2009 Cadillac CTS-V, there seemed to be buzz emanating from the GM booth and growing each time we looked. But, uh, not a single, buzz-building peep out of needy Pontiac? The arrowheaded-brand looked like a sad and lonesome red-headed stepchild in the back of the display.

Honda
F
Like they even care. Of course, they have the upstart Chinese makers ripping them off left, right and center, so maybe their plan is to allow imitation to remain the sincerest form of marketing. But it's never good when you get upstaged by a Ford Explorer concept with the unveil of the 2009 PilotAlso, Siler, who attended the reveal, tells us that the light show was inducing vertigo. Honda, we expect better from you — really we do.

Hyundai
B
Hyundai's rise from unconscionable crapwagon to belle of the ball has been well documented. But the Korean automaker put a fat cherry on top, rolling out the long-awaited, V8-powered, upmarket rear-drive Genesis sedan. So what if they haven't quite settled on which grille to use. We say go with the Klingon forehead one. On the other side of the spectrum, budget-minded brand-brother Kia unveiled the Borrego — the badge's first foray into the mid-size SUV market. How will it fare? Only time and gas prices will tell.

Lamborghini
B-
Gallardo and Murcielago design personalization services do not buzz make. But hey, the booth babes are among the most — umm — yeah. So, umm, bonus for that.

Land Rover
C-
Note to any SUV-making brand about to be bought by an Indian automaker: Let's say you're holding your press conference at the end of the first day of the Detroit Auto Show and you've just lifted the cover off of your new concept car everyone's already seen the images of. If an auto journalist about to collapse from exhaustion comes over to a PR person and just wants to snag a press kit so he can run, quick like a bunny, back up to the safe confines of the press room to post — just give him the damn press kit. Just sayin'... Anyway, they revealed the LRX concept — we'll probably post on it sometime soon.

Maserati
B-
The newly-profitable Maserati have a spank-me-gorgeous, entirely Pininfarina-designed product line, and the company still has the most attractive floor models outside Modena — but their reveals? Slightly less stunning. The highlight was the new, spec'd-up Quattroporte Collezione Cento that with iPod docking station, wireless internet and two 10-inch touch screens for rear-seat passengers makes us scream "mobile office." Unfortunately, this is the Detroit Auto Show — not SEMA.

Mazda
B+
Despite the new Mazda RX-8 looking so disappointingly similar to the old RX-8, we'll break out Mazda from their Ford Motor Company overlords for only one reason — the Mazda Furai concept. It's simply epic.

Mercedes-Benz
A-
Elder frottage plus CLK reveal plus Dr. Z serving drinks at the Firehouse plus the Sixties-vintage fratboy opportunity for much of our staff to stuff themselves into a Smart meant Mercedes provided us with enough comic relief to last a while. You need this sort thing when you're living on Diet Coke and sad ham-wrap sandwiches.

Mitsubishi
B+
No one, except maybe the cast of Friends, needs a comeback more than Mitsubishi. It took another step in that direction this week by giving sport-compact kids the midpoint racer they've been clamoring for. The Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart has 11 more horsepower than Subaru's new, ungainly WRX, and will come with the same SST dual-clutch automanual as Mitsu's top-line Lancer EVO. On the other hand, rolling out yet another concept car hinting at the absent Eclipse EVO just rubs salt in the wound. And oh, how it burns.

Nissan
C
A concept car for parentswho urgently need "Nanny 911"? Or who might want to warm up a few slices of cold pizza? Scintillating, no. But appealing to moms and dads WHO-HAVE-JUST-ABOUT -HAD-IT-UP-TO-HERE -AND-WILL-TURN-THIS-CONCEPT-CAR-AROUND-IF-THEY...yeah. Anyway — what's up with the lack-of-a-press-conference un-reveal on the Forum anyway?

Rolls-Royce
F
When we think of Rolls, ancient quasi-Homeric terms come to mind: heavy, thick, deep, and of course rich. So naturally the only news dispensed by management from Goodwood Manor was that the forthcoming "smaller Rolls," the RR4, is not some cut-rate rattletrap that runs on siphoned gas. Too bad that's about all they brought to the dance.

Subaru
D
Buzz factor zero. Subaru rolled out a single car here in Detroit, the 2009 Forester. Once a boxy quirkpot, the new Forester, based on the company's latest Impreza platform, takes the more conventional shape of a modern crossover SUV. It also hints at the ill-accepted Impreza, which shouldn't hinder its acceptance among golden-retriever-transporting Scooby diehards. Pre-show rumors of an STI version equals false hopes and expectations unmet.

Tang Hua
B
The yellow phallus car. The yellow car that floats—for President Bush! Miraculous names, as well, from Tang Hua: "Book of Songs"..."Detroit Fish." Lovely. But they did get that oh-so-desirous New York Times business section mention today — so that counts for something, right? Of course we were mentioned as well — maybe not as much as we thought.

Toyota
C-
Just a weird show overall for the Japanese. However, we were encouraged to see that, with the A-BAT concept Honda Ridgeline-like mini-truck, Toyota has intensified the tailgate-features arms race, even if the actual bed is scarcely large enough to hold a Dodge RamBox. The Venza Crossover Sedan was equally perplexing, a sort of... kind of... oh for chrissakes, it's a station wagon! When will the crossover madness end? Stop the insanity!

Volkswagen
B
Volkswagen AG scored here in Detroit with the Audi R8 V12 TDI concept and surprise sexpot Volkswagen Passat CC, both of which satisfied expectations, at least visually and theoretically, to a tremendous degree. Minus grade for hiring the craggy Canadian Bryan Adams to serenade the new Audi TTs. Cleanup on aisle 1985!

Unlike the pictures we saw earlier, the doors and the rear hatch roof were now removed on the vehicle I checked out, which made the HX look even more familiar and justified my relentless drilling of the designers about Halo.

I fully expected Rojas and Jablonski to quickly deny any kind of link—but the llevel of denial was stunning. Not only did Rojas quickly shoot down even the slightest bit of speculation, he was adamant, repeatedly stating the he neither owns an Xbox nor plays Halo. Jablonski echoed these denials. On a normal day that would be a fine, except a few days prior GM's director of exterior design for the HX, Carl Zipfel, admitted that "We all play [Halo]."

If you want to take a gander at this thing, it's clearly not a direct copy of the Warthog, but there are certain factors that one could draw assumptions from. The removable wheel fenders expose plenty of wheel-well action, which looks a lot like the Warthog. A completely covered and protected undercarriage and wheel wells is a necessity in Halo, to protect virtual combatants from imaginary barrages of assorted munitions. The Hummer designers must be anticipating that the HX will encounter similar action in the real world because the vehicle's protected undercarriage is a highly touted feature. The tailgate also opens for quick loading into the back with the folded down seats for when you have to quickly jump in and mount a gun turret. The roof of the HX is also removable, revealing a square top, which could be construed as similar to the Warthog's t-top.

So what's the final word? There isn't one. We've heard mentions of a link from insiders. We've heard speculation of a link across the Web. And even Rojas and Jablonski were quick to joke about the possibility of some kind of partnership with Bungie, makers of Halo, to get the Hummer HX into the game. While in-game advertising isn't something new, Bungie is not the kind of studio to participate in that, but on the other hand, Bungie's partial equity owner, Microsoft, would be more likely to join in.

It is safe to say that the Hummer HX is not a direct copy of the Warthog from Halo, but I can't get away from the fact that they share similar functionality, purposes, intentions—and that the designers were so adamant about their denials. Regardless, the fact of the matter is that neither the Warthog from Halo or the Hummer HX are actual production models. It's intriguing to see video games having a little bit of influence in the automotive industry, even if it is just with a conceptual design that will never see the light of day. Will we ever see GM hire away designers from the video game industry? Who knows?