General Motors, Ford and the Chrysler Group of DaimlerChrysler Go Green
January 11, 2005 | Levent OZLER
The Detroit auto show opened on Sunday with US carmakers showing off increased muscle and green technology to fight fierce competition from Asian rivals.
The North American International Auto Show, which runs through Jan. 23, features 65 new models, from concept cars using battery power to sleek and powerful roadsters, along with rugged trucks and sport utility vehicles.
The show opens after a glum year for US automakers. The market share of the Big Three -- General Motors, Ford and the Chrysler Group of DaimlerChrysler -- fell to an unprecedented 58.7 percent last year, even while overall car sales edged up slightly.
The Japanese Big Three of Toyota, Honda and Nissan all posted record sales last year to increase their combined share to 26.3 percent.
South Korea's Hyundai and its Kia affiliate also had record years, grabbing more than four percent of US sales combined, as the Asian total of the US market share surged to 34.6 percent.
The current landscape leaves the US automakers looking for a spark to catch up with their Asian rivals in the area of quality perception and in new technology, including hybrid gasoline-electric vehicles.
Hybrid technology -- using electric and gasoline engines -- was red-hot as the show opened, as evidenced by the Ford Escape hybrid sport utility vehicle which was named "truck of
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