The NAIAS with GM Canada

Part 1 of 3 NAIAS blog Series.



2015 NAIAS- Technology & Connected Car

This is my 5th year attending and 3rd year in a row covering the North American International Auto Show(NAIAS) in Detroit with GM Canada. I want to set it straight that I'm not an auto journalist or expert on technical aspects of a car.... I am a consumer and an average "Joe" as that saying goes; and appreciates the design, colour and features of a sexy car when I see one! In 2013, the NAIAS had a focus on environment and introduced their line of eco vehicles. The year 2014 became a banner year for Chevrolet winning the Car & Truck of the Year with Chevrolet Corvette Stingray & Chevrolet Silverado. In the 2015 NAIAS a focus on Technology and the Connected car. GM is definitely leading the way and raising the bar in the technology/connected car along other manufacturers, to follow later this year. Audi A3 was the first vehicle to have Wifi/4G LTE incorporated into the vehicle but GM is the first & only car company to have built in 4G LTE Wifi in almost 30 models in 2015.... that is the most for any car brand.

Personally, I'm very excited to see the emergence of the technology/connected car because we're all connected with smartphones. GM cars have WiFi. Let me repeat this, GM has WiFi. Amazing right? GM cars can become wifi hotspots that are even stronger than your phone. It can allow up to 7 devices to be connected. Imagine going camping or on a long road trip & having a WiFi connection throughout your road trip. You can tweet, update your Facebook status without worrying about roaming charges. This is a game changer and one of the many benefits to purchasing with GM portfolio in my opinion.


Concept Car - Buick Avenir

I had the privilege of attending the launch of the Buick Avenir concept car. The Avenir is a sedan that is conceptualized on design and comfort with emphasis on technology. This is definitely one sexy looking car. The rear of this car reminds me of the Porsche Cayenne with nicer contours and details.

The Avenir which actually means "Coming Soon/Future" in french is definitely one car that I look forward to in the Buick line. No plans for availability in Canada, US only for now.

Front & passenger seat.

Digital Display for rear seat passengers.

Digital dashboard.

I wouldn't mind being a back seat passenger in the Avenir (maybe to catch up on my tweets, lol or just to enjoy the ride...) Check out the back seat screen display, reminiscent of an airplane seat display. The rear seat design felt so comfortable I felt like I was in a lounging chair. You can tell their was an emphasis on comfort and use of space with the interior of the Avenir.

Buick Avenir Concept Car

Make sure to visit my site tomorrow to read Part 2 of this NAIAS series.

Disclosure: I was invited by GM Canada to attend the NAIAS Media event in Detroit. All opinions expressed are 100% my own.

NAIAS with GM Canada

Thanks to GM Canada, I had the opportunity to visit the North American International Auto Show - NAIAS in Detroit, Michigan for the Media Preview. The NAIAS is one of the biggest Auto Show's in the world. I had the honour of staying at the GM Renaissance Centre which is an architectural and futuristic style building.

The NAIAS started with the announcement that GM/Chevrolet Won the Best North American Car and Truck of the Year Awards with the Corvette Stingray and Silverado.  GM was quite the talk and buzz during this Auto Show with the sweep of the awards!

I also had the opportunity to visit the OnStar research facility located at the GM Headquarters in Detroit. I had a chance to see the plans for making the GM brand cars become advance mobile units on wheels. Showcased was the use/sync of a Samsung tablet with the in car dash. Imagine being able to tell if you have enough tire pressure from your car dash. The technology seems to make driving more enjoyable and safer which is good for customers like us. I really like how technology has made driving safer and GM is making strides in this capacity. GM has actually opened up the opportunity for developers to create apps via Developer Portal by releasing their API.

During this trip, I had the honours of having dinner with the President of GM Canada, auto media and lifestyle enthusiasts at the GM Heritage Centre. The Heritage Centre is home to every model and make of GM cars throughout it's history. It's quite the selection of cars and I was extremely impressed. My favourite was the black corvette with all it's curves. It reminds me of the batmobile.

One of the best parts of the trip to Detroit with GM Canada was the opportunity to visit and explore the  city of Detroit. It is sad that Detroit has become a "bankrupt" city but I do see the potential for revitalizing the city. GM is poised under the helm of Mary Barra, the first female CEO of the major auto companies to turn the auto industry into a competitive market as shown with the awards at this year's NAIAS. I'm excited to showcase more of my experience with GM Canada in Detroit. This is the 1st installment of a 3 part series on my experience with GM Canada, Buick Canada, GMC and Cadillac.

This Cadillac Escalade service in conjunction with Uber was a great way to explore the City of Detroit in style.

NAIAS with GM Canada

Thanks to GM Canada, I'm honoured to return to the North American International Auto Show in Detroit Michigan. Throughout the next few days, I'll be tweeting live coverage of the GM Canada announcements. I'm excited to give you coverage from the various GM brands from my point of view.

To give you an idea of my car knowledge, I know how to drive a car but my knowledge of cars is basic at the least. I don't know how to change a tire for the life of me.  I do appreciate good design and have a good feel for comforts of a vehicle. I enjoy the new tech on new cars from my experience with various car brands in past including GM. I have thoroughly enjoyed my experience with Buick Regal and the Buick Verano. You can read about my recent Bucket List trip to Cincinnati with Buick Canada. I'm looking forward to seeing the corvette and the secret announcement from Cadillac.

So make sure to follow the various GM Brands on Twitter here:

@GMCanada

@ChevroletCanada

@GMCCanada

@CadillacCanada


On a side note, tweet me at @clickflickca and tell me what you look forward to from GM Canada and you can WIN a $20 Gas Card.  Add #NAIASGM #ClickFlick to tweet. Good Luck everyone! :-)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The NAIAS with GM Canada

I'm very excited to announce that I'll be attending the North American International Auto Show in Detroit from January 13-16th on behalf of GM Canada. Previous years I have gone with Ford Canada and have thoroughly enjoyed the experience so I look forward to another continued and exciting experience with a company rich in history, GM Canada.

I'm looking forward to learning more about GM and want to see where all this pride comes from over in Oshawa. They've got a large segment of vehicles including the launch of the NEW corvette. So make sure to follow me on Twitter ( @clickflickca ) for all the updates and news from GM Canada and the NAIAS. Follow #NAIASGM

Ford Canada and the North American Auto Show Part 2

This is the 2nd blog post on my Ford Experience. To read the 1st post you can find it here.

First day 150 bloggers around the world converged in Dearborn Michigan for the North American International Auto Show on behalf of Ford Motor Company. The first night took us to the Henry Ford Museum that was not open to the public yet. We had the opportunity to have dinner amongst some famous automobile artifacts. The integration of 18 touch screen kiosks at various locations at the exhibit was a great mix of old history and new technology. It's a great way to learn and see the progression of the automobile. This is stuff I didn't think would interest me but it was actually enlightening. Learning the significance in historical moments and change in design and style is very cool and inspiring from a creative sense for me.


This is one of the older vehicles on display at the Henry Ford Museum.


It wasn't only cars at the museum. Here is the original menu in one of the diners displayed at Ford Museum. Overall it was a great evening to understand the history of Ford and it's importance in the automobile industry.


The next day we had the opportunity to wake up very early to see the big announcement and showcase of the Ford Fusion at Joe Louis Arena. This press conference was only open to auto journalist and Ford employees. This is probably the first time a significant number in attendance were blogger/social media types. The atmosphere had a very Cirque De Soleil feel to it. If you click on the image below it should give you a bit of a 180 degree feel to the event.




The showcase of the Ford Fusion.


Here is the media scrum after the presentation. Numerous media outlets on hand for this event. Including FOX2 below.





Overall the sentiment online and throughout media outlets have been positive and I'm sure have exceeded expectations in terms of coverage for Ford. Here is another local Detroit News coverage.



Finally on the same evening of the launch of the Ford Fusion we had the opportunity to visit Ford Headquarters. Scott Monty (Head Of Social Media) was able to address the bloggers with some stats and social metrics across the various Social Media platforms. Reaching out to bloggers that blog about fashion, lifestyle and digital moms seems to be effective.

Social Media stats of that day:

Over 2200 social media mentions.

Reached over 5 million unique followers on Twitter.

40% of the coverage that day was on Ford. Chrysler had 18% and GM had 15%.



*Stay tuned for more on this series for Ford. Keep in mind I was never asked to blog or post about this event. I was invited by Ford to experience the NAIAS and get a rare glimpse behind the scenes of Ford.*

Ford Canada and the North American Auto Show

This past week I had the opportunity given to me by Ford and Ford Canada to join 150 bloggers in Detroit for the North American International Auto Show. It is one of the world's largest showcase of automobiles and much more. The overall experience that took place over 3 days in Dearborn, Michigan was truly inspiring and a great learning experience. Over the coming days this blog will showcase what Ford the Motor Company is doing socially as a company as a whole. It will also showcase the cars they have introduced at the Detroit Auto Show. To be honest the first thing I think of when the word comes out about Ford is "Rob Ford". For those that do not know he is the mayor of Toronto who has had a controversial role as mayor in the city. What does this have to do with Ford the brand you may ask? Well Rob Ford is in the business of making change in a large city in Toronto for the good. If you live in Toronto you know how difficult it has been in the public face. Switch over to Ford Motor company and they are embracing a new way of business too! They are using social media channels to engage and give a better understanding of the brand and the rich history. I just thought I'd through the Rob Ford in to give it a change up. Yes this is how I write in a weird way.

Going back to the fact that Ford company invited non-auto bloggers is a testament to the forward thinking and the jump into social media by one of the largest american companies. If an automobile company does not do well then the economy as a whole gets affected. If the mayor of Toronto makes a stupid decision then the city is affected. Get where I'm going here so far? Hang tight here with me. Inviting non-auto bloggers to this recent event is smart. It enables you to spread the word to different markets that have not had much penetration. Fashion and Art are a few examples of bloggers that do not talk about cars so much in their blogs. The majority of the bloggers invited are "Mommy bloggers" who have a significant role in purchasing power in the household. Do you really want to read about how much horsepower a car has? Or are you just happy to hear that a car comes in multiple colours like red or blue with black leather interior? Everyone is different but I would assume the latter in this case. Aesthetics and simplicity are key to purchases. So to complete my thoughts in this blog. Rob Ford and Ford Motor Company are in the business of making sure we live in a happy environment with the proper services. We've all heard the saying of FORD = "Fix Or Repair Daily" That is definitely not the case with the Ford Motor Company but with Rob Ford... that still remains to be seen.

I know you are expecting pics and images to the Auto Show but I thought I preface it with a nice and gentle intro into this blog series. The following video is Scott Monty who is the head of Social Media at Ford Company. I asked him how Social Media has affected his industry. I hope you enjoy.