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Friday, Oct. 30, 2009

Auto show light on concepts this year

FRESNO -- "Concept" vehicles -- sleek, high-tech dream machines intended to show off an automaker's vision for the future -- are becoming a thing of the past.

You won't find any at the Central California Auto Show, an annual Motor Trend production that runs through Sunday at the Fresno Convention Center.

With the economy wreaking havoc on automakers around the world, manufacturers simply cannot justify the cost of building and touring new concept vehicles, said Mark Rapin, head of the Fresno-Clovis New Car Dealers Association.

"Nobody can spend that kind of money to build one and take it on tour around the country in this environment," Rapin said.

American manufacturers for years used concept vehicles to show off new technology and designs several years before they were showroom-ready.

Now, Rapin said, "what people see in the new models is the newest and latest technology."

The result: A smaller show, compared to its first three years, and a more practical focus.

Companies will show a broad lineup of models available for showrooms for 2010 and a few 2011 nameplates, said Shaun Foley, a media representative for Motor Trend. Motor Trend produces about two dozen shows in the U.S. and Puerto Rico each year.

This year's Fresno show -- like others across the country -- also features a greater emphasis on hybrids and other alternative-fuel technologies, Foley said.

"Consumers still want to know how they can save fuel and save money," he said.

A "green trail" will showcase each manufacturer's hybrid offerings -- and there are more of them this year as automakers scramble to adapt to a changing marketplace.

"Everyone's producing more hybrid models," Foley said. "You can even buy full-size pickups and SUVs in hybrid models now."

Despite going through bankruptcy earlier this year, both General Motors and Chrysler will have exhibits at the show, joining Ford to round out the Big 3 American automakers.

GM will occupy the largest exhibit, but missing from its lineup will be brands that are casualties of the company's efforts to downsize itself back to profitability. These include Pontiac, Saab and Saturn.

Both domestic and foreign automakers have seen their sales slip dramatically in the U.S. That has translated into hardship for local dealers, some of whom have had to reduce their sales and service staff.

A few in the Valley have closed altogether.

"There's nobody who's not being affected right now by the marketplace," Rapin said. "It's been a difficult year for the dealers and a difficult year for the economy."

But Rapin hopes the show -- with more than 71,000 square feet of shiny paint, bright chrome and new-car smell -- and its no-sales-pitch atmosphere -- will renew interest among a public that has been sitting on its collective wallet rather than buying new cars.

"In all honesty, people are driving their vehicles a lot longer," Rapin said. "The average age of a vehicle on the road today is much higher than it was a few years ago." "Eventually those vehicles are going to wear out," he said.

"The whole idea (behind the show) is to get people in the doors and thinking about a new car, whether they're in the market today or in a few months," he said.