This Year's Detroit Show Debuts Were Really Weird.

The only thing Ford unveils is a facelift of an existing model, GM unveils two crossovers (and that's it), and Chrysler doesn't unveil anything.

Only four concept cars were shown off and all but one of them were extremely boring. The one that isn't boring is an electric microbus.

The only party trick Honda pulled out was the new Odyssey, Nissan debuted another crossover with a powertrain that will doom it to mediocrity, and the most interesting Japanese car (the new Lexus LS) kinda fell flat, as it wasn't really interesting for more than 5 seconds.

Also, everyone got upstaged by a 365 HP, RWD, LSD-equipped four door liftback that was tuned on the Nurburgring and is made by Kia.

Anyone else scratching their head?

Well it's not as if it's like Geneva

Sounds like it's 1997 alll over again.

China is the world's biggest car market, American buyers are in love with trucks and crossovers, and the latest tech-fetish is driving automation. Carmakers decided this time to show off what's selling and what's on the horizon, not what excites auto enthusiasts. Bentley, Jaguar, Land Rover, Maserati, Mini, Porsche, Rolls-Royce and Tesla didn't even show this year.

Volt dancers?

Sign of the times...

In a world where the goal is to eliminate the driver from the equation, this is what you will see.

We should all run out and buy that Kia just to thank them for being fashionably late to the party.

In reply to G_Body_Man:

Proving that it's time to pull the plug on the Mopar part of the equation of FCA. Let Jeep go independent and Cummins sell their motors to another 3/4 and full tonne manufacturer.

G_Body_Man wrote: Also, everyone got upstaged by a 365 HP, RWD, LSD-equipped four door liftback that was tuned on the Nurburgring and is made by Kia.

I love the idea of this, and for all I know, we may actually consider getting one, but look at it:

Doesn't it look kind of exactly like an Optima?

Not that that's bad - I thought that Optima looked fantastic when it came out. I still do. I'm pretty good at appreciating subtle differences between similar cars, but... /shrug

The silhouette is very similar to the Optima, but I think the front and rear styling is much more pleasing on the Stinger.

Of course, the big news here is that Kia has a new RWD chassis and a twin-turbo V6. Honda, Toyota, Nissan... none of them play in that niche.

But jeez, the name 'Stinger' makes no sense for a car that has luxury sport sedan pretensions.

In reply to Lugnut:

I think it looks more like an asian Jag XF.

Yeah, I think of Stinger as more of a Dodge name.

And, yes, the styling is slightly different, but not any more different than just a model year makeover could be. Like I said, though, still pleasant to look at. The fact that it looks like an Optima makes it all the more stealthy.

captdownshift wrote: In reply to G_Body_Man: Proving that it's time to pull the plug on the Mopar part of the equation of FCA. Let Jeep go independent and Cummins sell their motors to another 3/4 and full tonne manufacturer.

Umm... Cummins engines are in Nissan trucks now.

In reply to Ian F:

that's their 1/2 ton plus, they have an exclusive provider contract in the 3/4 and one ton market.

The Cummins/FCA relationship makes piles of money for both companies. I'm not sure either one is ready to end it.

Lugnut wrote:

G_Body_Man wrote: Also, everyone got upstaged by a 365 HP, RWD, LSD-equipped four door liftback that was tuned on the Nurburgring and is made by Kia.

I love the idea of this, and for all I know, we may actually consider getting one, but look at it: Doesn't it look kind of exactly like an Optima? Not that that's bad - I thought that Optima looked fantastic when it came out. I still do. I'm pretty good at appreciating subtle differences between similar cars, but... /shrug

Maybe at a glance, but they're vastly different, and nowhere does the vast difference show up better than in profile.

So much lower, noticeably longer, with a significantly longer dash to axle, and very different character lines. They also look like completely different cars when viewed from the rear.