Detroit Auto Show: 5 hot new SUVs and pickups

Still, the contrasts are jarring: General Motors Co. rolled out a brawny new Silverado pickup just a day after announcing it is ready to launch an autonomous fleet in 2019, minus any profit projections for the latter. The new Silverado also is made mostly of steel, including a high-strength steel cargo box, unlike the top-selling US pickup truck, Ford Motor Co’s (F.N) F-150, which has a body and cargo box made of aluminum. The midsize Chevrolet Colorado and Toyota Tacoma both notched sales increases a year ago even though overall US sales were down.

Jonathan Smoke, the chief economist for Cox Automotive, says customers looking for an affordable vehicle a year ago were more likely to shop for used SUVs over new small cars. The high-strength steels used in the new Ram and Silverado cost more than standard steel alloys, but still have the price edge over aluminum, he said.

As reliability and features get more uniform, vehicle companies are turning more to design and customization to distinguish their products and keep buyers interested, says Brian Moody, executive editor of Autotrader, an online auto sales site.

At Toyota, for example, the RAV4 crossover “generation after generation became larger”, Toyota North America CEO Jim Lentz said in an interview.

Achates and its partner Aramco, the USA arm of Saudi Arabian Oil Co., plan to test the engine.

The EPA hasn’t yet given it a gas mileage rating.

The 2019 Ram is wider than the current model and has a 4-inch longer wheelbase.

The new Ram also loses 225 pounds (102 kilograms) to compete with lightened rivals including the aluminum-clad F-150.

Besides providing extra power, the mild hybrid system lets the vehicle coast with the engine off for short periods of gentle cruising. The system recaptures braking energy to charge the battery.

The company plans to “shift toward a lower volume passenger auto lineup in North America and Europe” while it boosts its SUV mix with vehicles like the Edge ST and upcoming Bronco. The doors, hood and tailgate are made from aluminum in order to decrease weight. Ford says that will give the truck the power of a V6 engine with the fuel economy of a four-cylinder. There is also a new turbocharged 3-liter Duramax diesel engine.

The leaner, meaner headlights are also one of the most visible ways that new technology – in this case, LED lighting – is changing auto design.

The current Audi A3, a small passenger vehicle, is as big as the larger A4 used to be, he said.

“There’s a lot of wasted air that’s happening down there about technology and products that are never going to see the light of day”, Muncey said of CES, adding that there are actually “synergies” between the two events. That means a show floor where, for the most part, SUVs, trucks and perhaps the occasional hybrid usurp the self-driving concepts and artificially-intelligent prototypes of CES. Reduced weight also makes the truck more agile, appealing to all buyers, he said.