NAIAS 2013: Ford Atlas Ruins GM's World

So you agree with Derek's implicit (I'd argue express) point that Ford showing a "concept" (that looks remarkably conventional by concept vehicle standards) of a 2015 truck that may be the F-150, and may or may not have some arguably trivial options available, with no information or photos of the interior or detailed specifications, stole GM's thunder at the NAIAS (that hasn't even concluded yet)? If so, maybe since Chrysler's RAM won Truck of the year, and is an actual production vehicle, with a real interior, and real and detailed specs, nearly universally praised by anyone who has seen it or driven it, has stolen whatever thunder Ford & Lincoln had hoped to create at the NAIAS.

@DeadWeight It's a concept, albeit one likely close to the production version than many concepts are, but a concept nonetheless. Concept vehicles generally don't come with detailed technical specs. There are more photos available (including interior shots) over at AutoBlog. The Truck of the Year award usually goes to whichever of Ford, GM or Dodge has the most recently and thoroughly updated truck. Dodge won this year, GM will win next year with the '14 Silverado/Sierra, and Ford will win in '15 with the next-gen F-150. GM had a chance to grab a ton of headlines if they'd have announced official power or fuel economy numbers for the new pickup engines, but they chose not to. Instead, they focused on the ELR and the new 'Vette, which is understandable, but for whatever reason there doesn't seem to be nearly as much buzz about the new 'Vette as there was about the C6 when it debuted. Also, in face-palmingly typical GM fashion the powers-that-be managed to make the biggest GM related story out of NAIAS be about whether a niche vehicle would be coming to certain niche markets in RHD, complete with a quote from GM's vice president of global manufacturing of "I really don't give a [expletive deleted]".

@DeadWeight "So you agree with Derek’s implicit (I’d argue express) point that Ford showing a “concept” (that looks remarkably conventional by concept vehicle standards) of a 2015 truck that may be the F-150, and may or may not have some arguably trivial options available, with no information or photos of the interior or detailed specifications, stole GM’s thunder at the NAIAS (that hasn’t even concluded yet)?" Don't forget the (fire) Escape rebadge they showed too! That's what did it. Two vehicles that are FAKE, stole the thunder from REAL vehicles. Pathetic.

'GM did almost nothing to promote the new Silverado/Sierra to the assembled throng of media' Good lord Ronnie...if they had tried to 're-reveal' the vehicle, you all would have made fun of them and said they already did that. Derek's headline was for clicks....its okay...but you don't have to defend it. Are you saying that you needed GM PR reps to remind you to write about the trucks? Or is this part of the butt-hurt from some Junior High slight that happened in the past?

@sunridge place "Good lord Ronnie…if they had tried to ‘re-reveal’ the vehicle, you all would have made fun of them and said they already did that." Not at all. There are so many more journalists at the NAIAS than there were at the December launch of the Silverado and Sierra that I expected them to at least mention them. There was no GMC press conference, and that might have been an opportunity to talk about the new pickups. "Derek’s headline was for clicks….its okay…but you don’t have to defend it." In fact I've seen comments about Ford stealing the spotlight from GM vis a vis pickups even on non-automotive sites. I'm not defending Derek, I'm just making the same observation that he and a number of other people, automotive and otherwise, have said. "Are you saying that you needed GM PR reps to remind you to write about the trucks?" Considering that I went out of my way to photograph the new GM pickups and also asked for Chevy and Sierra press kit thumb drives, I'd say the answer to that question is an unqualified no. "Or is this part of the butt-hurt from some Junior High slight that happened in the past?" I'll leave it to the best and the brightest to determine who is acting like an immature adolescent in this case. If you could show me in any of my writing where I've been unfair to General Motors, I would appreciate it. Though the editors may have had different experiences, my personal interactions with GM personnel have been mutually respectful and they've given me access. You may recall that I was able to build a LS9 engine out at GM's Performance Build Center. What feedback I've gotten from GM on my writing has been positive. I live in the Detroit area. If anything, I tend to defend the domestic automakers. That's one reason why Robert Farago asked me to contribute to TTAC. It's really not that unusual for a car company to not do publicity at major shows for previously revealed products. Because of auto show logistics and scheduling, a high profile reveal at the Detroit show may not even be at Chicago, for example. Actually, since Chicago is usually more of a "truck" show, I expect GM to make a big deal about the pickups then. In this case, though, I think that there was a perfect storm that ended up benefiting Ford.

@sunridge place You shoot pretty straight for the most part. I said 'you all' instead of 'you' on purpose. I imagine no Chevy/GMC press conferences because there's nothing new to talk about since mid December. EPA and final certified specifications are probably not ready so the press conference would have been a lot of 'stay tuned' answers. After a press conference with 'no new info,' some critics would have been howling that it was a waste of time and nothing new was learned. It would be interesting to know if you could describe the 'freeze' or 'cold war' effect that Bertel mentioned yesterday when he wrote that it is GM that is biased against TTAC. Did you feel that when you did your piece on the Wixom plant.

@sunridge place Ronnie - "In fact I’ve seen comments about Ford stealing the spotlight from GM vis a vis pickups even on non-automotive sites." I don`t doubt that but I have seen anything about the Atlas prominently except for on TTAC. When I go on Edmunds and the "Whats hot" section I get at least 5 articles about the Corvette and zero about any Ford launch. Edmunds is well read and balanced. So from that perspective it certainly doesn`t seem to be the case that the Corvette (and Chevy by extension) were losers. You said it yourself that Chicago is more of a truck show and I expect at that show GM will release pricing, engine and fuel economy figures. If there was nothing to report here then why have a press conference. I agree Ford did well showing what looks like a standard F-150 with some minor tweaks visible. Makes up for having nothing else in the Ford line-up to launch. GM at least had two high price, but lowish volume (although higher than the NSX and RLX will be) launches.

@sunridge place Google "ford atlas concept steals show"