Detroit Motor Show 2016 Preview

Mercedes-Benz will launch three new vehicles at the Detroit Motor Show 2016, one of them being the new SLC roadster. Primarily succeeding the SLK roadster, the renaming is done owing to the German automaker’s revised nomenclature.

Under this method, all the roadsters will use the base name “SL”, which stands for ‘sportlich leicht’ (German for sport light), followed by the letter that tells us about the series it is based on. So the SLC is primarily based on the C-Class.

The SLC-Class will be available in five engine options- starting with the SLC 180 which gets a 1.6-liter 156 hp turbocharged engine and extending till the SLC 43 AMG that gets the C450 AMG’s 3.0-liter biturbo V6 motor capable of generating 367 hp. With a 0 to 100 km/h time of 4.7 seconds, the SLC 43 AMG is 0.1 second slower than the SLK 55 AMG that packed a naturally aspirated 5.5-liter V8 producing 416 hp.

The deliveries of the SLC-Class are expected to start later in H1 2016 with booking likely to commence this month.

Detroit will see Mercedes also launch the convertible version of the $234,000 S65 AMG Coupe as well.

The S-Class Cabriolet was showcased the IAA Frankfurt Motor Show 2015 and this one gets the most powerful engine in the range- the 6.0-litre V12 biturbo engine that we know from the SL65 and G65 AMG models. It produces 630 hp and 1000 Nm of torque, allowing the car to go from 0 to 100 km/h time in just 4.1 seconds. Despite getting a drop-top, the convertible has a similar performance to the coupe owing to lots of weight-reduction steps taken by Mercedes.

It is the first time the German automaker will offer a V12 in a four-seater convertible and it will join the S550 and the S63 in the S-Class convertible series. Since one of the competitors of the S-Class Cabriolet is the Bentley Continental GT, it makes sense for Mercedes to offer a 12-cylinder variant (the S63 gets a V8).

The deliveries of the S65 AMG Cabriolet will start May 2016.

The new Mercedes-Benz E-Class will also be showcased in Detroit. The photos of the car have already been leaked online and it is quite similar to the C-Class and the S-Class.

It uses the new MRA platform but the biggest changes will be in the powertrain options as Mercedes’ inline-six engines will be replaced by the current V6 engines, together with new four-cylinder diesel engines.

BMW will showcase the M2 and X4 M40i, BMW 330e, 740e, X1 and the BMW i8 in Detroit. Of these, the M2 and X4 M40i will be making their global debuts.

The BMW M2 was revealed last year and the production of the car is already underway at the company’s Leipzig plant in Germany. Under the hood of the 1M coupe’s spiritual successor is a 3.0-litre inline-six cylinder engine featuring a TwinScroll exhaust manifold-integrated turbocharger pumping out 365 hp and 465 Nm of torque. This enables a 0 to 96 km/h sprint time of 4.2 seconds with the dual-clutch automatic transmission.

The first deliveries of the M2 will start in April 2016, bookings have already began. BMW USA is yet to confirm the price, but the car will sell for €56,700 in Europe.

A direct competitor to the Audi SQ5 and the upcoming Mercedes-Benz GLC 450 AMG, the BMW X4 M40i is an upgraded version of the X4 35i. It gets the latter’s 3.0-litre turbocharged inline-six engine but with a retuned performance figure of 355 hp and 465 Nm of torque.

The engine is paired to an eight-speed automatic transmission complete with steering wheel mounted paddle shifters. The gearbox has been modified to provide sportier shifts than before and also incorporates launch control. Thanks to all these revisions, the BMW X4 M40i will hit 96 km/h in just 4.7 seconds and a 250 km/h electronically limited top speed.

The price of the X4 M40i is yet to be announced and the sales will commence in February 2016.

The convertible and coupe variants of the new Porsche 911 Turbo and Turbo S will make their global debuts next week. Both models get a power upgrade from the twin-turbocharged, 3.8-litre flat-six engine. The 911 Turbo now produces 540 hp, while the Turbo S gets a 580 hp motor.  Meanwhile, the Turbo S coupe can reach 0 to 100 km/h in 2.9 seconds while the Turbo reaches the same speed in 3 seconds.

The updated 911 models are already on sale with UK customers expected to receive deliveries later this month.

The Force 1 is Henrik Fisker’s new car that will be unveiled in Detroit after the entrepreneur stated his intention to launch a new car which will feature the world’s most powerful naturally aspirated engine.

However, the blueprint of the car came under scrutiny from Aston Martin with which Fisker has previously worked (helping design the DB9 and V8 Vantage), resulting in the 52-year-old suing the British automaker for $100 million. Aston don’t want Fisker to showcase the car as that they feel it resembles the James Bond’s DB10 but he has shown no intention of backing down.

In case you don’t remember, Fisker is the same man behind the Fisker Karma luxury hybrid car. He founded Fisker Automotive but sold the company in 2013 after it went bankrupt.

Lincoln is reviving the flagship Continental sedan 14 years after it was discontinued and a leaked image of the car can be seen above.

Technically the tenth-generation Continental, the vehicle will replace the MKS sedan, which has been one of company’s slowest selling cars in recent history. That said, Lincoln has been quite secretive regarding the details of the vehicle, although we can expect an AWD configuration and the 2017 Lincoln MKZ’s 400 hp 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged V6 motor seen in the Continental concept car.

The sedan will be produced at Ford’s Michigan plant (along with the Ford Mustang and Fusion) with a predicted price of $50,000 and above.

The Volvo S90 will replace the company’s ageing S80 and compete against Mercedes-Benz E-Class, Audi A6, Jaguar XF and BMW 5-Series. The S90 badge has been revived by the Swedish automaker after it was used in certain markets to badge the Volvo 960. These S90 models were the last rear wheel drive vehicles offered by the company.

Nonetheless, the new S90 will be based on the same SPA platform that underpins the XC90. This means that the the sedan will borrow its engine options and several other technologies from the the crossover (which means it will have a hybrid variant too).

Furthermore, the S90 will be the first car in the United States to offer semi-autonomous technology as standard thanks to an improved version of the Pilot Assist system seen in the XC90.

The interior spy shots and scale model of the S90 have been leaked so we have a decent idea of what the car will look like.

Lexus is likely to give the LC Coupe its global debut next week. Based on the LC-LF Concept Car, the coupe will compete with the BMW 6 Series and the Maserati GranTurismo.

The new Lexus sports car will be available in a number of guises, including a range-topping F performance version with a twin-turbocharged V8 engine pumping out around 600 hp. However, this variant is likely to be launched later and initially customers will get a V6 hybrid and the naturally-aspirated 5.0-litre V8 from the Lexus RC F. That said, nothing has been confirmed yet and exact details will only come up after the launch.

Hyundai will launch the first model of its luxury brand, Genesis, at the Detroit Motor Show 2016. Called the G90 in global markets and EQ900 in South Korea, the vehicle will pitch against the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, BMW 7 Series and the Audi A8.

It will become the Genesis’ flagship model and will be followed by two more sedans (one of them being the Hyundai Genesis sedan which will be rebranded as the G80 and be sold under the new brand instead), a two-door coupe and a crossover.

Customers will get three engine options: a 3.8-litre V6 developing 311 hp, a 3.3-litre twin-turbo V6 that pumps out 365 hp, and a range-topping 5.0-litre V8 that develops 420 hp. Korea will get the first car in H1 2016 while other markets may have to wait till the second half of the year.

While Infiniti will showcase the 2016 QX60 crossover, Q50 sedan and the 2017 QX30, the headline-grabber for the brand will bw the Q60 coupe – the successor of the G37 coupe.

It it basically a two-door version of the Q50 and the concept was show at the same event last year. The coupe will probably carry over the 3.0-liter twin-turbo V-6 engine and seven-speed automatic transmission seen in the concept, which can be seen above.

Not much to be said here but Audi will launch a new model (likely the new Q5 or A5) in Detroit. We will update as soon as we get more information about it.

Regarding concepts, Audi will reveal a hydrogen fuel cell-powered version of its e-tron quattro concept, called the Q6 h-tron concept. Meanwhile, Volkswagen is expected to come up with plug-in hybrid version offroader (likely to be based on the Tiguan) and Acura will showcase the Precision Concept.

Detroit Motor Show 2016 New Cars

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