“Flight Status – Cancelled”, this was not the beginning of my first press trip that I was hoping for.
A few weeks ago I received an email from Ford Canada inviting me to the North American International Auto Show, or NAIAS for short. I really didn’t know what to expect but after looking at blog posts from invitees of past years I knew I’d be in auto heaven! I’m not what you’d call a ‘car buff’, but I do, however, like looking at cars and learning about the new technologies that car companies are investing in and bringing to the market.
Behind The Blue Oval
NAIAS is the largest auto show in the world, and it’s always held in Detroit, A.K.A. Motor City. This year it runs from January 16th to the 24th. Exhibitors from all over the world converge on this event to reveal their sexy new models for the upcoming year. Last year, all attention was on Ford as they unveiled the new 2017 GT Supercar, and I wondered how they could possibly top that as I eagerly accepted the email invitation.
As I mentioned earlier, my flight was to Detroit was cancelled but luckily I begged and pleaded with the right people at Delta and got a seat on the next flight out, which left about seven hours late. The problem all stemmed from bad weather in the Detroit area which led to numerous cancelled and delayed flights. I finally arrived, late that night, and unfortunately, I missed the amazing dinner that Ford usually hosts for their guests. This year the dinner was held at Ford Field, home of the Detroit Lions. After dinner, guests were able to head down to the field for a little NFL experience. I’ve been to a few NFL games in my time, but never experienced the feeling of standing on the 50 yard line and looking around an empty stadium. Yes Mother Nature, you took that away from me!!!!
Media Day 1 of NAIAS – Jan 11th, 2016
The alarm goes off and I’m ready to pelt my phone across the room. I didn’t get much sleep that night and I didn’t want to leave the most comfortable hotel bed I’ve ever slept on.
After breakfast we were taken to Cobo Center where we got our first look “Behind the Blue Oval”. This is the massive display area that Ford created to showcase their products. You can see the effort that went into this in the following video:
This display is one of the biggest at the show. Not only is it used as a product showcase but it also included areas where visitors can participate in hands-on displays, recharge devices, use the many iPads available, hold informal chats with executives and do some smaller product launches.
After spending some time “Behind The Blue Oval” we were invited over to the Joe Louis Arena which was a short walk away for some of Ford’s revelations. One of their bigger announcements was that of the new FordPass app.
Their goal is to move the company from an auto company to an auto and mobility company. As CEO Mark Fields said, “We’re going to disrupt ourselves”. What he means, and how they do with FordPass will be very interesting to see but I need to do some more research into this membership app before I can give you more details. In the meantime, here’s a brief overview of the services offered in FordPass:
- Marketplace – Covers services such as parking, ride sharing, car sharing, and multimodal transportation planning.
- FordGuides – Lets passholders speak with “trusted and knowledgeable FordGuides,”
- Ford Appreciation – Member rewards for signing up, parking, or using the FordGuides. Current reward partners include McDonalds and 7-Eleven.
- FordHubs – Storefronts to initially be located in New York City, San Francisco, London, and Shanghai where special events would take place.
This wasn’t the only announcement by Ford on Day 1 of NAIAS, There were a few more but for the sake of keeping this article short I’ll just list a few of them here and I will go into details over the next little while:
- 2017 Raptor F-150
- 2017 Fusion
- New Ford NASCAR Fusion racing edition
- New partnership with Lego
One of my biggest highlights was being able to actually sit down with Dianne Craig, President and CEO of Ford Canada for an interview. She was a very personable woman and the conversation flowed freely. Keep an eye out for my article and you’ll find out some interesting things about Dianne including what her favourite restaurant is in Oakville.
Here are some of the photos I took on Day 1 of NAIAS. Stay tuned, my NAIAS Day 2 overview will be ready for you soon.
Disclaimer: I was not compensated monetarily for this article but my travel, accommodations and all meals were paid for by The Ford Motor Company.
