Reflecting on this year's Detroit Auto Show (NAIAS), it was pretty easy to pick this year's winner. The Ford GT was the clear victor.
But what about the WORST car at the show? Well, my friends, that was a bit trickier.
(NAIAS) Detroit Auto ShowThat's because while this year there were plenty of all-new products that made an appearance, there were several vehicles that were outstandingly bad. But as there can only be one, we've come to a decision.
Leading the worst of the worst was the all-new Chevrolet Volt. This was followed by the Volvo S60 Cross Country, which we're now nicknaming the Volvo Eagle.
Although we understand the Volt has to be designed to have the best possible coefficient of drag, making it look like a mid 2000s Honda Civic is a bit, well, uncool. If that wasn't bad enough, the vehicle only increased its electric range by an estimated 10 miles. This raises the total electric mile driving range to approximately 50 miles depending on a host of conditions that are known to impact a vehicle's batteries. We're sure all the automakers will try to convince buyers that commuters only travel 20 miles round trip or something of the like, but this is the go to line when any manufacturer doesn't meet expectations.
Rolling out the all-new Bolt, which is far more interesting from a range and price perspective, didn't help the Volt's cause.
And the Volvo? Well, let's just put it this way: We don't get it. We've seen AMC and Subaru jack up its vehicles in a bid to have a crossover-like sedan offering, but when Volvo is making perfectly capable wagons and the all-new XC90 is right around the corner, we can't do the calculus to understand why it would botch the very nice S60 with this Cross Country variant. Not even a sexy matte black paint job can detract from the awfulness of plastic fender flares.
**The 2015 Detroit Auto Show (NAIAS) photo galleries are sponsored by Lexus.
(NAIAS) Detroit Auto Show
(NAIAS) Detroit Auto Show
