I can think of very few cars in my lifetime that sustained the buzz almost continuously from the reveal - the Miata, the New Beetle, the Prius, the aborted Microbus, the MINI.

Why is the Volt not a weekly news piece in the AP or Reuters? Why aren't we talking about it once a week? Where is the buzz on what should be a revolutionary form of transportation?

eltonito

BlackIce_GTS

Point on the embargo vs. buzz. It's a double edged sword. GM tossed the Camaro out way early to create a buzz and they over did it. Same with the Volt. The buzz would be far greater now if they played the creation of those cars a bit softer. So an embargo does have its advantages. Its all timing of course.

The flip side is the Dodge Ram presentation for any sort of short term buzz. I think more people remember two bovine fornicating and the rest of the posse dropping crap on Washington Blvd more than the truck intro. Or was the real event having Tom LaSorda watch Jim Press do the intro. Now we know that Tom is a true #3 at Chrysler.

Its time for Chrysler to drop the wild product intro's, that was a Bob Lutz 90's thing and come up with something original.

Personally, I wish the carmakers would go back to wild, futuristic concepts. To me that creates a buzz at an Autoshow.

allenparkpete

grzydj

But what is there to "Boom!" about when an Altima is declared Most Desirable? When the 'think different' of the car world [saturn of GM] is really just re-badged Opel?

I say 'whatever' to the embargoes, let that fall wherever, and let us drop the whole Henry Ford worship. It's mass production that's got us in this mess in the first place.

You just have to know something is wrong with it all as a whole when the Cadillac CTS is declared most dramatic at a show where one can see and hear the Mazda Furai, and Shady Chinese manufacturers are driving cars inside, Fer Fuc's Sake!

Weather and darkness will not be an issue

And let's get Wes in on it as POLAR suggests if at all possible. He's a sweetie (needs a haircut, 'tho, as Grandpa would say...), but tidy otherwise...

Charles_Barrett - Now with Variable-Valve Timing

Hell, a lot of stuff that's debuting isn't even covered. Even the stuff that is can be easily recognized, X6 for instance. Sure, BMW rolled the 1 Series 'vert out onto a runway with Time Machine rings around it. But it was less interesting than the woman in the white gi/coveralls who was doing a combination of dance, acrobatics and martial arts. Her flexibility was the biggest surprise there. And damn memorable, too.

Solo_Racer

camp6ell

POLAЯMISSESEVEЯYBODY

@SLRSpeedshop: I thought I was hiding it so much better.

Ray Wert

SLR_BlowerMania

bryanl

fussychicken

*Apple is a tough comparo. In their field they are still a small player (except for portable players, of course), so things like showmanship are very important to them in order to gain media mind share. This concept might work for small players like Fisker or the exotic mfrs, but the big players? Can they keep it in their pants long enough for the buzz to work?

*Unlike the consumer electronics, cars are very tough to keep quiet long enough to generate any buzz. For example, its easy to hide a prototype cell phone or computer from public view, not so easy with a new car or truck. When an entire cottage industry has developed around you to photograph your latest creation and sell the pics to the high bidder, how can any product buzz be created about it? One big reason Apple's product reveals are exciting is becuase no one has seen reliable spy shots of their latest toy.

*Can the automakers hide new products long enough for a "jump ball" reveal to work? I don't think so and neither can they, hence the reliance on embargoes. Look at how much bandwidth was spent on endlessly yapping about the Corvette ZR1, the Challenger, the new Camaro, etc, etc. Everyone has a camera in their hands and everyone has internet access to share their juicy morsel of info with the world. It may have been easier when the few auto journos had the same contacts giving them the same inside info. Nowadays the number of "reporters" has exploded and sources have grown with it.

Anyway, thoughts are too scrambled to tie it all together. I guess my point is the automakers are prolly too big and too bureaucratic to control everything properly in order to maximize the buzz. There are lessons to learn and good examples to follow, though.

Uncle Bo, averting foreclosure

JoeKing

Hooray to Ray for putting a handsome face on Jalopnik (seriously!).

Charles_Barrett - Now with Variable-Valve Timing

I think part of the problem is that no auto company has a CEO or senior management member (well, maybe Maximum Bob, but I'm starting to think he's spent a little too much time at high altitude with the canopy open) with the charisma to pull it off the way Jobs does. Dr. Z came close, but he reminds me a little too much of a German version of the guy from My Classic Car with the twirly mustache.

Deartháir

Ray Wert

JoeKing

Ray Wert

Is the auto industry capable of delivering something revolutionary and buzz-worthy on an annual basis? I'm not so sure it is.

@Ray Wert: Out of curiosity, what was an automotive unveiling from the past few years that was Jobsian in its buzz, revolution and showmanship?

eltonito

It may be that the automakers are tired of feeding you cake and beer, so they would rather go on the unearned PR. Especially so in today's world of informed buyers on the internets. Nobody cares about pulling the lid off the main course, then everyone goes home writes pretty much the same article to be published in 40 different outlets.

Instead, they'd like to manipulate the bloggers, mags, shows, reviewers over the course of months building up tot he official unviel.

-chet

Sounds like a testimonial on one of those drug commercials. "JALOPNIK worked for me, but you should talk to your doctor. Jalopnik is not for everyone. Side effects for Jalopnik include itchy, watery eyes, foaming at the knees, fits of lurgi, poor gas mileage, hoonage, sore throat, spit-takes, loss of productivity, sleepless nights, by-POLAR! disorder and mental constipation."

Deartháir

Ray Wert

Mercy!

DrivingPosition

Malaise Era II? Anyone?

No matter how big the Prestige, if you're pulling a coin from behind a kid's ear, the crowd isn't going to stand up and cheer.

Deartháir

JayP71

Tomsk the red-nosed reindeer

Ray Wert

Mysterious Utility Bento

POLAЯMISSESEVEЯYBODY

I think the entire auto industry could learn a lot from Apple, and I'm not just saying that as a Mac Fanboi. Steve Jobs knows how to ramp up the passion, how to make his fans excited about it. Apple treats EVERY product as something special and magical. Every item they sell is revealed with this sort of sense of awe and reverence, warranted or not.

When they're revealing their less-interesting products -- oh boy, the iPod HiFi, how terribly thrilling... -- I am reminded of the merchant at the beginning of Disney's Aladdin. "Ooooh, look at thees. I have never seen one of these intact before. This is the famous Dead Sea Tupperware..."

And yet we find crowds cheering and applauding and chomping at the bit to get one. The auto industry would do well to talk to a magician or a theatre showman. Or just watch the movie "The Prestige". Steve Jobs appears to have done that.

Imagine if the auto show was a magic show, and all the audience, you journalists, were shown beforehand how the magic trick worked. You'd be sitting in the audience only watching to see if the magician's head popped off. When it doesn't, when everything works, you say, "Okay, good enough" and go home to write something like, "Magician's Head Still Firmly Attached, Despite Journalists Best Hopes".

And the articles end up damning the automakers with faint praise. Wait.. Feint praise, right? ;)

I never thought I'd say this, but geez, let's inject a bit of Vegas into the show!

Deartháir

fjork_duf

Ray Wert

pitchpitch Type-Я

Kingtom. Kindomg. Komding.

MY KINGDOM FOR A SECRETARY WHO CAN TYPE.

Deartháir

Of course I will say that it sure is nice to get a lot of stuff written and ready before hand. Even with so much in hand before Day 1 it was non-stop for me in Detroit.

Rabbi Dave

Deartháir