Claudia Bacco, Managing Director – EMEA for RCR Wireless News, has spent her entire career in telecom, IT and security. Having experience as an operator, software and hardware vendor and as a well-known industry analyst, she has many opinions on the market. She’ll be sharing those opinions along with ongoing trend analysis for RCR Wireless News.
DETROIT – Walking around the Detroit Auto Show there were cars to satisfy many different tastes. Some were exciting and flashy, some seemed to have arrived from the future, many were ordinary and some honestly just didn’t make sense.
First there was the 3D-printed car. This was truly an amazing sight. It looked and felt just like a normal car, and yes they let me knock on it to see how sturdy it felt. The interior showed signs of being 3D printed, but that wasn’t the point, the point was to show that it could be done. The entire car pictured in the video was printed in only 24 hours. The implications are a bit mind-boggling actually. And you could start it with your eyes!
The Ford stand was a city in and of itself, showcasing models of all shapes, sizes and price points. The model garnering most of the attention, though, was the newly announced Ford GT. And just in case you were ever wondering what’s underneath a Ford Mustang, they had one flipped on its side to help you figure this out.
Mercedes also had a new GT for our viewing pleasure. Love the red interior, it’s too bad this one won’t fit in my carry-on luggage or I’d take it home with me. But the real Mercedes buzz was all about the F 015 autonomous car research vehicle.
At the other end of the spectrum was the Spira4U Foam Car. I can’t help but imagining a smurf driving this one. I honestly don’t get it. It can go up to 60 mph but is made of foam, it didn’t feel very stable to the touch and I wouldn’t want to crash in it. But hey, you can take it for a little paddle around a pond and the fenders have sparkly crystals on them.
GAC also had a self-driving concept car with swivel seats and a fish tank. Novel idea, but also made me scratch my head a bit about the consumer desire for this feature. Guess you no longer need a fish sitter when you go on holiday.
Lastly, I want to mention the Michigan State solar cars. Pretty amazing university effort.
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