Consider the new Ford Focus, perhaps the major star of the show, judging by press day coverage, or the Chevrolet Aveo RS \”concept\” car, the 1.4-liter turbo four-door hatchback headlike for creation late this year. The Aveo’s only concept elements haw be the 19-inch wheels and edifice dual wear pipe, which Chevy hopes the sport compact receiver crowd adds to the suddenly interesting subcompact.

So let’s call that the theme of the 2010 NAIAS. I didn’t attend all the press conferences, because Motor Trend has a full body covering this show, and we separate them up, but I saw pretty much everything:

Best in Show: Unlike previous shows, modify last year’s, there are no big standouts. Rather, the exhibit was filled with good, solid product, most of it quickly headlike for creation or lightly disguised future creation models. That said I’m feat to award the Audi e-tron Detroit concept because the German automaker continues to extend its design leadership to a rather pie-in-the-sky automobile sports car. Updated from the Frankfurt ‘09 e-tron, the crystal-blue Audi combines R8 styling in what looks more same a TT-sized coupe. The two side motors wage 201 horsepower and 1955 lb-ft of torque (that’s not a typo — that’s apparently Audi’s multiplied torque number) to the side wheels only (no quattro). What I same best, though, are the side sail panels flowing into horizontal taillamps that provide the car a mid-century \”Jetsons\”-era look. Sublime.