| Posted on 2/1/07 |
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In the media machine that is the auto show circuit, nothing holds a candle to Detroit's January unveiling of dozens of new concept and production cars. That show is where the world's media gathers to pass judgment on the future of the automotive world.
With all the attention on Detroit, the Second City also comes in second — or even third — when it comes to major car shows. Still, the 2007 Chicago Auto Show does have one thing going for it: It's big.
Chicago is tops among the major auto shows in size and attendance, and that means it influences someone much more important than automotive journalists: the Average Joe. With 1.3 million square feet of space and more than 1,000 vehicles, visitors get to see quite a bit at McCormick Place.
Almost all of the buzz-generating concept and production cars that were shown a month ago in Detroit will make the trip to Chicago, along with cars shown in late 2006 at the L.A. Auto Show. Add to that the world debuts of more than a dozen all-new or revised models from Nissan, Pontiac, Saturn, Scion, Toyota and others, and you can see why the Chicago Auto Show needs all that space.
When we say this show is big, we mean golf-cart-envying big: The Chicago Auto Show covers a space roughly equivalent to 22 football fields. Bring two pairs of sneakers, folks.
"What we try to do is give the manufacturer the tools they need to be able to do whatever they like," said Paul Brian, the show's communications manager. "This is the show that doesn't have any boundaries on imagination."
For the past two years, Chrysler has set up test circuits inside the convention center, and this year is no exception. This time around, the company will show off how some of its models perform in cold weather and on icy roads.
Thanks to all the space Chicago offers, this year's Ford display will be bigger than the total combined displays of all the Ford brands — Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Jaguar, Volvo, Aston Martin and Land Rover — at the Los Angeles show last November.
That means the Average Joe and Josephine have more ground to cover and, usually, more models to sit in and ogle. At a show like Detroit, there simply isn't the floor space to show off multiple models and trim levels like there is in Chicago. Extra cars also means the larger crowds won't have to wait as long to actually touch and sit in the new models.
If there's one problem with the Chicago show, it's how crowded it can get on a busy day. If you're a serious show-goer — and are planning to skip work to attend — pick a Tuesday or Wednesday to call in sick, because the crowds are usually thinner. (Not that we're advising that; keeping a good job means you can afford that new car you found.) Early birds also tend to have a better experience, as the crowds haven't yet permeated all those square feet of floor space.
Chicago is also the place where automakers get to do their first market research on models that just debuted; 11 percent of attendees travel more than 100 miles to attend the Chicago show.
"This is where they can really see if the car will play in Peoria," Brian said.
In fact, some companies pluck show-goers from the floor to perform market research in nearby conference rooms in order to gauge which models got the most attention. Others use more covert tactics, like counters under a car seat, to see how many people sat in a particular model.
Chicago is known as a convention town, and this is the biggest consumer show McCormick Place hosts, though it's not the largest show of any kind. That title belongs to an annual convention held by the Radiological Society of North America, which uses all of McCormick Place's 2.1 million square feet. Think how many more cars you could see with all those extra football fields of space. |
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