“Davos for auto execs,” it’s not, wrote Our Man in Michigan from the Traverse City Management Briefing Seminars.
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The event, held in August by the Centre for Automotive Research, still shows its roots as an industry golf-fest, John Voelcker told us, and much more besides. There was a lot for him to report, exclusively for just-auto, and, if a busy week meant you didn’t yet have time for a look, pour a fresh coffee and join him now.
In what turned out to be a busy week for us, too, GM finally showed a decent glimpse of its new Chevy Cruze. Unlike its Daewoo/Chevrolet/Holden-badged predecessor, this is a true global car which will, this time round, give North American dealers a stylish, fuel-efficient replacement for the Cobalt, itself a big improvement on the ancient Cavalier it replaced. We’ve seen that two-tier new nose before, on the acclaimed Malibu and the updated Aveo, as well as some US trucks and SUVs, but first pix suggest a stylish car, always assuming the interior is up to scratch, too.
Just how important the Cruze will be was underlined by GM first signalling, at the beginning of the week, and then announcing last night a big spend on the current Cobalt/Pontiac G5 plant at Lordstown, Ohio, to make it. There was also a tantalising mention of a 1.4-litre turbocharged engine for 2011 – Europe gets 1.6- and 1.8-litre petrol motors to start – suggesting a sporty replacement for the current Cobalt/G5 coupe is in the offing.
Outside the US, sales continued to slide here in Europe, but you gotta be impressed that both VW and its relatively pricey Golf – in its final year – topped the maker and model tables year to date.

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By GlobalDataMeanwhile, Renault quietly put the redesigned Symbol – a Clio hatchback with a boot (trunk for the Americans) – into production in Turkey, long a country in which it has built cars. I’ve always been fascinated at the different demands buyers in individual countries make of automakers and, here in hatchback-dominated UK, it’s easy to forget that customers in many other markets, such as central, southern and eastern Europe, North and South America, and China, often prefer the good ol’ conventional sedan. So Renault’s developed a new Symbol, which looks the nicest yet. The old one was also built in Brazil and, from kits sent from there, assembled in Mexico where it wore Nissan badges.
We also learned this week that European automakers and component suppliers are weathering current economic and energy storms relatively well, and we sat down and had a chat with successful US-based interiors and battery specialist Johnson Controls.
After all that, we’re looking forward to the three-day break we’re about to take in the UK.
Enjoy your weekend,
Graeme Roberts
Deputy Editor
just-auto.com