Like Ford, Chevrolet also had a small car to introduce. Also, like the Fiesta, the Chevy Cruze (yes, all the good names are taken) will have been cruzing around Europe and Asia for a couple of years prior to clogging up the freeways and mall parking lots of this fair land. Chevy also trotted out the Volt. . . again. Bob Lutz claimed that the company was juiced about the car’s prospects, and that we should all get really amped up that California will be the first market for the car. As it’s been in the pipeline since before the economic crisis caused a revamping of GM’s brands, I wanted to ask Lutz if it wouldn’t be better now to release the Volt as a Buick or Caddy, considering its $40K-plus pricing. Seeing that he had a raging cold or something, I decided to shelve the questions and keep a safe distance instead.

In one way, Chevy was very much unlike Ford; the bow tie display was dark, pretty quiet and lacking in excitement. Ford, on the other hand exuded optimism from their bright, engaging display, and drew show-goers in with demos, slot car racers, and a cool Raptor driving simulator. In a lot of ways, the show is an excellent exposé of each maker’s market right at the moment.

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