Market-Changing 2015 Ford F-150 Puts It All In Perspective At Detroit

If it weren’t for the radically different 2015 Ford F-150 that made its debut at the start of the 2014 Detroit Auto Show press previews, we might also call this show what other major media outlets already have—a sort of variety show; a step away from practicality into niche and performance products; and a celebration of the diversity that the automotive market offers today, large and small, fancy or modest.

The show, in which automakers often manage to synergize and synchronize their messages through production-bound vehicles and prototypes, as well as some farther-off concept-car ideas and carefully curated messaging for press conferences, is all that.

Yet the F-150, with its extensive aluminum construction, 700-pound weight loss, and downsized, turbocharged engines (and its decision not to offer the big-displacement 6.2-liter V-8 right away), is a brave, brave move—one that we’ll probably look back on as forever market-changing. And it sets the tenor of the show not necessarily by what it is, but what every other new vehicle isn't.

It also casts a shadow over what's otherwise the mass-production star of the show—the 2015 Chrysler 200, a sedan that looks bound to recapture some of the more sophisticated, style-conscious mid-size sedan market that's surged over the past several years. And it arguably took some of the zing away from GM's announcements of a 625-plus-horsepower Corvette Stingray Z06 at Chevy and a stylish new ATS Coupe at Cadillac feel—as well as its North American Truck of the Year victory with the 2014 Chevrolet Silverado 1500, a truck that's being very well received by the market but criticized by some as too evolutionary.

Did Detroit pull the plug on electrics?

Conspicuously missing from the show—outside of the Tesla Motors stand, and a few other exceptions—was much mention of plug-in and all-electric vehicles, as well as fuel efficiency. Whether the industry is suffering from green fatigue, or whether it's a matter of product cadence, a number of automakers pushed high-performance niche vehicles out to the forefront, and sidelined any green announcements.

Infiniti's press conference, for instance, made no note of the light-and-lean focus it had been aiming for in recent years—instead Johan de Nysschen spent much of his speech speculating about how large and powerful of a gasoline engine the brand could install in its F1-inspired, Q50-on-steroids Eau Rouge sport sedan—and there was no mention of the [reportedly quietly shelved] all-electric model that had been teased and suggested in the past. Likewise, Lexus pushed out a flamboyant, V-8-powered RC F Coupe that appeals to serious driving enthusiasts and aims to bring more of them to the brand, while Toyota's FT-1 Concept hints at a future production sports car. Subaru officially added a new generation of its aggressive WRX STI, making 305 hp, while Kia teased its first true sports car in a concept, the GT4 Stinger. And BMW's new M3 sedan and M4 coupe, as well as the new 2-Series—all performance-oriented models—grabbed a lot of attention. And Volkswagen introduced its 296-hp Golf R, an all-wheel-drive high-performance hatch that new Volkswagen of America chief Michael Horn called “a real sports car.”

Outside of muscle and horsepower, a grab bag of ideas

VW was also on the green tack a bit more than their German counterparts. In addition to the Golf R, the brand showed both the Dune concept—a Beetle given an Allroad/Outback treatment that might be welcomed in the U.S.—as well as a special Passat BlueMotion Concept that demonstrates how the automaker might squeeze 42 mpg highway out of a non-hybrid gasoline mid-size sedan.

Honda appeared an outlier at Detroit, as it chose to debut a new generation of its efficient, responsible Fit subcompact at the show. Its Acura luxury brand separately showed what might be one of the most overlooked gems of the show—a very attractive, production-bound 2015 Acura TLX sedan (shown in prototype form) that replaces both the TL and TSX models and could break the brand's sedan line out of its styling slump.

As much as the market pointed to niches, excess, and designs that weren't in many cases all that practical, GM's mid-size trucks were a nod to moderation and sanity—and a sweet spot for the show. With more economical powertrains (including a base four-cylinder, and a diesel engine on the way), the 2015 GMC Canyon looks more upscale, inside and out, than the Chevrolet Colorado that was first shown at November's Los Angeles show and should hit the spot for those who want a comfortable, useful truck that's not super-sized.

In-dash tech a continuing thread

Of course if the undeniable market force of the F-150 is the prevailing wind, and the swells of a sea change, the technological transformation within cars remains the undercurrent that echoes through out industry, from some of the most affordable models up to prestige luxury cars. The revised interface in the 2015 Mercedes-Benz C-Class is one example of that, as are GM's announcements (through Cadillac and Chevy, initially) to get embedded LTE data services in its vehicles.

Hyundai also rolled out the U.S.-spec version of its all-new Genesis luxury sedan, a car that definitely steps up the luxury and refinement another notch (and adds a new badge that makes us wonder if they're setting up offices in England) but made an even more important impression at Detroit as being the first production model to have both an Apple Siri Eyes Free mode and Google Glass integration.

While performance cars were the headline and tech was the sidebar, neither of these themes are major market inflection points the way that the F-150's redesign might be. The Ford trucks pretty much cast a shadow over everything and made some of the other brands look arguably unduly focused on extravagance and higher hp.

Slip-sliding back to a 2004 attitude?

Is there a market for so many high-performance cars? Are we witnessing the industry turning away from its fixation on green messaging and marketing? At its worst, it's complacency, and the business overextending itself...rubbing its own backs.

And that leads to an important final word. As the auto industry surges ahead, seemingly in some ways like 2009 and 2010 never happened—and we're simultaneously heading into what some are calling a worrisome auto-lending bubble—the run-up to higher auto sales could use an attitude adjustment. And possibly, a few more market-changing products like the F-150 that look to play the long game.

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