Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
By LOUIS HAU, Times Staff WriterYes, there are hot-rods, but fuel-efficient models are getting the most attention at the Tampa auto show.
TAMPA - Early Thursday afternoon, Gary and Elizabeth Monfred of Land O' Lakes checked out the interior of a 2006 Ford Escape sport utility vehicle at the Tampa Bay International Auto Show. She sat in the front seat, he in the back.
The couple, both 54, were shopping for a fuel-thrifty SUV to replace their 2000 Ford Windstar minivan, which costs more than $50 to tank up and gets subpar gas mileage.
"I don't even travel that much, so I can't imagine what it's like for people who drive a lot," Elizabeth Monfred said.
According to AAA, the average price of regular unleaded gasoline in the Tampa Bay area was $2.42 per gallon on Thursday, down sharply from the all-time, post-Hurricane Katrina high of $3 set on Sept. 7.
But that's still 22 percent higher than the $1.98 a gallon consumers paid a year ago. So it comes as little surprise that fuel economy is on the minds of many attending this year's Tampa auto show, which opened Thursday and runs through the weekend.
Among the most popular vehicles with visitors were the Toyota Prius hatchback and the Ford Escape hybrid SUV. Both enjoy unusually high gas mileage thanks to hybrid engines alternately powered by a gasoline-fueled combustion engine and a self-recharging battery.
But hybrids weren't the only sign that carmakers are responding to consumer concerns about fuel economy. The auto show also features new entrants in the growing category of midsized "crossover" vehicles that appeal to consumers looking to combine the versatility and roominess of an SUV with the handling and gas mileage of a car.
A crossover market niche currently occupied by the Honda Element, the Nissan Murano and the Chrysler PT Cruiser is growing more crowded with new competitors, such as the Chevrolet HHR, Mazda 5 and Subaru B9 Tribeca.
Other new models at the auto show drawing visitor attention included the Pontiac Solstice sport coupe, aimed squarely at the Mazda MX-5 Miata; the midsized Ford Fusion sedan, which will compete with the popular Toyota Camry and Honda Accord; and the Chevrolet Cobalt, which is aimed at taking market share from the Toyota Corolla and the Honda Civic.
But the Solstice, Fusion and Cobalt couldn't hide another subtext at the car show: the continuing decline of the U.S. auto industry. In October, General Motors, Ford and Chrysler (part of Germany's DaimlerChrysler) captured a combined market share of just 53 percent of U.S. car sales . That's a record low.
Foreign carmakers, particularly the Japanese, have proved far more adept at anticipating customer needs than their U.S. counterparts, according to market experts.
In recent years, the Japanese introduced the first hybrid vehicles to hit the U.S. market. But Detroit remained preoccupied with its very profitable sales of large, gas-guzzling SUVs and pickups, although U.S. automakers are developing hybrids and vehicles that will run on new ethanol-based fuels.
"Ford and GM really missed the boat when it comes to hybrids," said Phil Lienert, associate editor of Edmunds.com. "GM has no hybrids (other than pickup trucks) right now. It's just kind of shocking that GM was as dismissive in its attitude toward hybrids as it was."
And it's not just in hybrids that Detroit has fallen behind. The Chevy Cobalt is an example of a model from an American carmaker doing too little, too late, according to Matt Stone, executive editor of Motor Trend magazine, the primary sponsor of the Tampa auto show.
"It was a pretty nice car until the new Civic," he said. "They caught up for 5 minutes ... because they didn't reach far enough."
The predicament of domestic carmakers is eerily similar to the headaches they faced following the oil shocks of the early and late 1970s. That's when Detroit had few vehicles able to compete with new Japanese subcompact cars as gas prices increased, Stone said.
"I think it is a repeat of history," he said. "The American carmakers were once again looking at the wrong place at the wrong time."
Of course, not all visitors to the auto show were troubled by such weighty topics. Retired Palm Harbor engineer Bernard Pasqualichio was at the show to look at a $195,000 Ferrari 430. Pasqualichio, 66, already owns two Ferraris.
"They're fast, they're pretty and they drive beautifully around a track," he said.