{"id":27993,"date":"2021-09-23T12:58:05","date_gmt":"2021-09-23T16:58:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=27993"},"modified":"2021-09-23T12:58:05","modified_gmt":"2021-09-23T16:58:05","slug":"with-a-roar-mounds-of-dirt-and-evs-motor-bella-opens-a-new-auto-show-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2021\/09\/with-a-roar-mounds-of-dirt-and-evs-motor-bella-opens-a-new-auto-show-future","title":{"rendered":"With a roar, mounds of dirt and EVs, Motor Bella opens a new auto show future"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pontiac<\/em>\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Motor Bella is not your standard Detroit auto show, and it\u2019s not supposed to be.<\/p>\n

The first show since the pandemic is part auto show, part racetrack. Based at M1 Concourse car club in Pontiac, it\u2019s a sign of things to come. Sprawling static displays sit next to test track tests, off-road courses, even off-site drives for customers who want to get behind the wheel of a Ford Mustang Mach-E or Audi e-tron for the first time as manufacturers try to get customers into vehicles \u2014\u00a0not just to ogle them.<\/p>\n

For all of the creativity, however, Motor Bella offers familiar meat and potatoes for Detroit showgoers: trucks and lots of muscle. The Ford Expedition and Toyota Tundra introduced beefy new upgrades while show attendees can ford water in a Bronco or catch air in a roaring, 702-horsepower Ram TRX super truck.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels like a carnival,\u201d said Motor Bella chairman Doug North, who owns North Brothers Ford in Westland. \u201cBut we\u2019re kicking it off with a Ford reveal just like an auto show.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Media press conferences, comparatively light on news compared to the executive-heavy pressers of past, have been replaced by experiences \u2014\u00a0a Jeep SUV trundling over beds of logs here, a Mustang Mach-E racing down a short chute there.<\/p>\n

At the show\u2019s center is a 2.3-acre infield \u2014 normally M1\u2019s asphalt test pad \u2014 which is dominated by General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Stellantis NV manufacturer brand displays.<\/p>\n

Circling the Detroit Three infield like moons are more automaker displays \u2014\u00a0smaller, static dealers displays, not elaborate stages familiar to TCF Center showgoers. The exception is Toyota Motor Corp., which has constructed a pop-up dealership building that overlooks the infield and is fronted by the Tundra and America\u2019s best-selling SUV, the RAV4.<\/p>\n

Typical of Detroit auto shows past, manufacturers push environmental virtue with lots of talk of sustainability and alternative-fuel vehicles. But at Motor Bella, vehicle electrification is no longer a side hustle that may someday be realized \u2014\u00a0it\u2019s a core business strategy with real products on display. Customers are wooed less by gauzy slogans and more by the reality of experience.<\/p>\n

Electric vehicles used to be relegated to the TCF Center basement for test drives. At Motor Bella, they are front and center. Showgoers can get behind the wheel of a $50,000 Ford Mustang Mach-E or $70,000 Audi e-tron and take them out on adjacent Woodward Avenue for a spin. Mash the pedal and customers gasp at the acceleration.<\/p>\n

But the internal combustion engine still powers 98% of U.S. auto sales, and the headline vehicles at Motor Bella are still powered by gas. A lot of gas. Two race tracks are at the periphery of Motor\u00a0Bella, and the constant roar of Ram TRX pickup\u2019s V-8 is Motor Bella\u2019s soundtrack.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow you see it, now you don\u2019t,\u201d blares a big-screen video display as riders experience the super truck\u2019s neck-snapping, 4.5-seconds\u00a00-60 acceleration.<\/p>\n

The Ford Bronco vs. Jeep Wrangler war is on in earnest here, with Jeep hauling in tons of dirt and rocks for its\u00a0120,000-square-foot off-road track where attendees can experience the extraordinary off-road capabilities of the Wrangler Rubicon.<\/p>\n

Not to be outdone, Ford held a news conference and dropped a bomb that the Bronco will gain a tree-chewing, high-horsepower Raptor model. A Bronco ride is on offer in the infield that takes passengers through water, sand\u00a0and over a 21-foot roller-coaster hill with the best view in Pontiac.<\/p>\n

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The line for the Bronco ride was a half-hour long, while an adjacent Mach-E experience had no wait on Tuesday. Demand for the Bronco is so high that \u2014 at the customer drive experience on Woodward \u2014\u00a0showgoers must drive another Ford model (Bronco Sport, Explorer, Mach-E) before they can jump into a Bronco.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s great \u2014 anytime you\u2019re able to drive a product, that\u2019s good,\u201d said John McCandless, the retired national manager of public relations field offices for Toyota Motor Sales. \u201cI love the Jeep outdoor display and the Ford outdoor display.\u201d<\/p>\n

Auto shows are an opportunity for startups to break through \u2014\u00a0Tesla in Detroit in 2015, Rivian in Los Angeles in 2018\u00a0\u2014\u00a0and Motor Bella marks the auto show debut of Bollinger Motors with its B1 SUV\u00a0and B2 pickup. One of a number of automakers bringing electric trucks to market, the Bollinger pickup stands out\u00a0for its open front-and-rear bumper \u2014\u00a0so you can slide longboards the length of the truck.<\/p>\n