When it comes to celebrating all things automotive, nobody does it bigger and brasher than Motown.
Starting on Sunday, the world's major automakers will compete to capture the attention of more than 6,000 journalists, about a third of whom will fly to Detroit, Michigan from outside the United States.
“Detroit is still THE show,” said John Wolkonowicz, an analyst with Global Insight.
“There's more of the latest and greatest than any other (auto) show in North America.”
The displays are so dazzling that even architectural magazines show up to review them.
Enough carpet is laid down on the convention center floor to blanket 750 football fields and the exhibits alone are valued at 200 million dollars (135 million euros).
And that's not including the cost of champagne, canapes and hiring celebrities to spice up the press conferences.
When the doors are finally opened to the public, some 700,000 people will pay for a glimpse of upcoming models and the concept cars of the future.
South Korea's Hyundai Motor will be introducing its first luxury vehicle, and GM is introducing its fastest Corvette ever, the ZRI muscle car armed with 620 horsepower.
Some of the concept cars are still just dreams, like the Dodge Zeo sports car whose electric motor can see the vehicle go zero to sixty in less than six seconds.
Others could soon be seen in showrooms with some modifications, like Nissan's minivan with an all-glass roof and seats that swivel 180 degrees.
Five Chinese automakers will also be displaying vehicles at the show, although analysts think it will be at least a couple more years before Chinese-made vehicles are found on American roads.
This year's show comes as US automakers are still struggling to regain their footing following a sharp drop in market share to Asian rivals.
Ford Motor Co. recently ceded the number two spot in the United States to Japan's Toyota Motor, which is also expected to grab the top spot globally from General Motors Corp.
Chrysler LLC is still trying to refocus under new, private management following its divorce last year from Daimler.
And while all three have managed to fix persistent quality problems, they still have to work to introduce more attractive models and convince customers to give their vehicles a try, observers say.
“They've had a couple decades of subpar offerings and they've overcome it, but it takes a while before people forgive and forget,” said Karl Brauer, editor in chief of Edmunds.com.
“GM mostly needs to just stay the course because it is a perception thing they're up against,” he told AFP.
“Ford — they don't have any (new) products … when they changed captains every six months to a year they were just going in circles without a single captain's plan actually being executed.”
While Ford has relied on new grills to spice up old offerings, Chrysler is still lagging on introducing a hybrid vehicle and has also suffered from failed new offerings, he added.
Meanwhile, high gasoline prices and tight new fuel economy regulations are forcing renewed focus on alternative technologies and smaller vehicles.
“The big news from Ford is going to be in the miles per gallon,” Jim Farley, Ford's vice president of marketing and communications, said recently.
But while the automakers may be talking a lot about fuel economy, there will still be plenty of gas-guzzlers on display.
“You'll see a combination of moving toward this environmentally friendly society… with still trying to satisfy the customer who has many different wants or needs,” said Tom Libby, senior director of industry analysis at JD Power and associates.
“There is a tension and there has been and it will get more so with such a higher (corporate average fuel economy) standard.”
The 2008 North American International Auto Show will be open to the public from January 19 through January 27. Press previews begin Sunday and run through Tuesday.
