With more than 300 new cars and trucks from 40 different automakers to view, the opportunity to car-shop indoors is bound to draw crowds to DeVos Place.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI – The question for Jeremy and Rebecca Wheeler at the 16th Annual Michigan International Auto Show revolved around which Chevrolet they would buy next.
“I’m a Chevy truck guy,” said Jeremy, who was admiring the new 2015 Chevrolet Silverado on the floor of the DeVos Place during Wednesday evening’s “Charity Spectacular” fundraising event for the Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital Foundation.
“I want the car, he wants the truck,” said Rebecca, admiring a 2014 Chevrolet SS as the couple munched on a Caesar salad. Jeremy admitted he liked the SS’s sporty styling and performance, and Rebecca said she liked the car’s sound system. If she got one, it had better be fire engine red, she added.
But Jeremy stuck by his guns with the truck, especially if they could wait until the 2015 Silverado comes out later this year.
“Everything’s better on it,” he said. “And there’s nothing like a pickup truck.”
It was one of hundreds of family debates that are bound to occur as thousands of consumers visit the auto show from Thursday, Feb. 6 through Sunday, Feb. 9. With more than 300 new cars and trucks from 40 different automakers to view, the opportunity to car-shop indoors is bound to draw crowds.
Blaine Sharpe, chairman of the Grand Rapids New Car Dealers Association, said car buyers will find a lot of new technology aimed at making their driving experience safer.
Many of the new models are designed to integrate the cars with smartphones – in a good way, Sharpe said.
“They give you the ability to use your smartphone on the road and reduce distracted driving,” he said.
Many of the new cars also include “active safety” devices to monitor blind spots, warn of lane changes and automatically brake when a hazard appears in the roadway, Sharpe said.
“What we’re seeing right now in this technology is the beginning of the path to self-driving cars,” said Sharpe.
He estimated cars will not be full self-driving for another decade, primarily because of the time it will take for legislation and road technology to catch up.
The Charity Spectacular also debuted the new carpeting for the show, patterned after a blacktop road with double yellow center stripes. Show Producer Henri Boucher said they laid more than 1,500 feet of the carpeting for this year's show.
For Christian Flikkema, a sales rep at VanAndel and Flikkema Dodge, the event not only gave him an opportunity to meet customers, but it also gave him an early look at the 2015 Chrysler 200S he will get on his lot later this year.
“It’s got a lot of new safety and security options,” Flikkema said as he checked out the white sedan aimed at competing against the Ford Fusion, the Honda Accord and the Toyota Camry. “It’s been re-designed from the ground up.”
This year’s charity opening also featured the “Fashion Overdrive,” an event which pitted nine hair designers and models against each other in a timed event patterned after the popular television show, “Iron Chef.”
The evening also included a silent auction, Michigan beer and wine tasting and the start of a $50 raffle event that will award a 2014 Cadillac ATS Sedan at the end of the show on Sunday afternoon.
Jim Harger covers business for MLive/Grand Rapids Press. Email him at jharger@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter or Facebook or Google+.