Thoughts from the 2010 Chicago Autoshow

Personal File: I hit the Chicago Auto Show last weekend with no grand expectations. I knew the show was going to be more restrained than years previous due to the economy and that many brands are no longer in business. In lieu of this, I was surprised to see many automakers continuing to hand out lavish brochures.

After collecting brochures from every manufacturer (as I do every year) and reviewing them when I got home, I noticed that both Cadillac and AUDI had some issues. I know that photography and artwork had to be created and approved far ahead of show time, but these two manufacturer brochures really stuck out to me.

Cadillac leads my review with two oddities. The first is clear case of "cut and paste" from one CTS to another - a wagon to a sedan. The second Cadillac oddity is the DTS. In what appears to be a wheel swap, the wheels shown have the appearance of hubcaps due to the incorrect angle/perspective. Click an image below to see more.

Cadillac CTS

Cadillac DTS

AUDI is next with two oddities of their own. Both of the issues are with non-moving vehicles. I believe the goal was to make each image more dynamic by adding wheels that were in motion, but both images failed. The original wheels on the A5 convertible and A8 are still clearly visible in some areas. Click an image below to see more.

AUDI A5 'vert

AUDI A8

What do you think - did I just stumble upon a dirty little secret with manufacturer brochures or was it just a bad year for AUDI and Cadillac?

All source photos copyright original owners