Welcome to the 2007 Detroit Motor Show!

Welcome to Yahoo! Cars coverage of the 2007 Detroit Motor Show. As I write, it is half way through the second press day (of three) and still there are secret cars under cover that nobody has yet seen! Nevertheless, we've already seen a huge number of significant reveals, from exciting, futuristic concept cars, to thinly-veiled production show cars to new showroom models.

The 2007 installation is the Detroit Show's 100th anniversary and the theme set down by the organisers this year is "Drive. Design. Desire." Despite that, the atmosphere is a little subdued in the Cobo centre in downtown Detroit, with a little less glitz and glamour than we're accustomed to in Motor City itself. There's a sense of belt tightening in the industry and the Detroit Show appears to have suffered because of that. The new, elevated position of the LA Auto Show (now in December) must have stolen the limelight a little too.

Nonetheless, take a look through our galleries at some of the significant new cars and concepts already revealed. Here's what we've seen so far:

The Acura Advanced Sports Car Concept wowed the crowds amid rumours that it will spawn a replacement for the much-loved Honda NSX. We love the show car, but it sadly doesn't look ready for production.

BMW's only all-new car on display was the 3 Series Convertible, utilising a folding hardtop for the first time in the company's history.

Hoping to challenge BMW, in terms of driver appeal, is a new Cadillac CTS. It was revealed today and looks great, in a quite American kind of way, and significantly, the car's dynamics were developed on the Nurburgring, so it should appeal more to European buyers than most previous Caddies.

One of the stars on the Chevy stand was a 'concept' version of the Chevrolet Camaro Convertible, which is a certainty for production, though maybe not in the striped orange livery displayed. Chevrolet is also set to show a new Malibu saloon, though that won't be sold in Britain.

Surprisingly, Chrysler has not yet unveiled its Nassau concept car, but it looks good through the sheets covering it...

On of our favourite cars of the show so far is the Ford Interceptor concept car, looking like a mix between the current Mustang, the Super Chief concept of last year and a little bit of the Chrysler 300C. There is no doubt that Ford will produce a new car influenced by this show car. Less likely for production is the Airstream concept car, influenced by the shiny silver American caravans of the same name. New for the American market are a facelifted Five Hundred saloon and a redesigned Ford Focus.

Overshadowed a tad by its Acura cousin, the Honda Accord Coupé Concept is one of those near-production show cars that really should not be called concepts. It looks good, but we're not sure it will make it to our shores.

Hyundai is set to launch a new SUV, called the Veracruz, later today.

The Jaguar C-XF concept is said to represent 85% of the new XF saloon, set to replace the S-Type later this year. It was one of the show stars.

DaimlerChrysler's off-road arm will unveil the Trailhawk concept car later today, a new vehicle with the off-road abilities of a Wrangler, but the styling of one of the more road-biased Jeeps.

We're still waiting for the covers to come off the Kia Kue concept and the first in a new generation of Lexus performance cars, the IS-F.

Lincoln has already revealed the MKR concept and it's an interesting one, though not quite as eye-catching as the radical Mazda Ryuga concept, continuing the marque's line of sports car concepts, by moving the design (slightly) closer to production.

The Mercedes-Benz stand features a real ice-rink, where the 4MATIC four-wheel drive system was demonstrated first hand. That was soon forgotten when the covers were taken off the Ocean Drive Design Study, which examines the possibility of a four-door luxury convertible to sit at the top of the Mercedes-Benz range.

Later today we'll see the new Mitsubishi Lancer in the metal for the first time, along with a concept version of the eagerly-awaited new Evo.

Nissan's stand focuses on the new Rogue crossover at Detroit, which appears to be a US market version of the new Qashqai. A bizarre concept car called the Bevel is also on the stand.

Taking pride of place on the Porsche stand in Detroit is the new Cayenne, displayed in all three model options, complete with a new look and new engines.

The showroom-ready Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupé has already been revealed in Detroit, with rear opening doors and a solid teak cover for the hood amongst other things.

Though the American journalists seemed more taken with the huge new Crewcab version of the Toyota Tundra truck, our eyes were drawn by the radical Toyota FT-HS concept car, previewing a production sports car that will utilise hybrid technology.

Last, but certainly not least, is the unveiling of the Volvo XC60 'concept' closely representing the new 'baby' SUV of the same name that will hit Volvo showrooms in a couple of years.

So in summary, there's plenty to drive and desire there, with a distinct emphasis on design. Watch out for our extensive photo galleries, news and even videos, coming soon!

Monday January 8

Send by Messenger

Email this article

Green Car Centre