Show Time!

If this year’s auto show circuit is any indication, manufacturers have adapted to the increasingly global automotive market by heeding consumer desires for smaller, more economical vehicles. A new segment of small, congestion-beating cars has emerged, and compact crossover SUVs have the agility, backed by consumer demand, to shoot past their oversized predecessors in a fuel-efficient flash.

Some of the best new cars at the major shows in Detroit, Los Angeles, and Chicago will appear at the annual Twin Cities show in mid-March, where consumers, perhaps thinking of once and future $3-per-gallon fuel,  can try them on for size.

In January, General Motors won both the Car of the Year—Saturn Aura—and Truck of the Year—Chevrolet Silverado pickup—and made its biggest news at the Detroit Auto Show by unveiling the Chevrolet Volt, a neatly styled compact concept car. Volt’s “E-Flex” electric motor can go forty miles on a plug-in recharge and even farther with supplemental power generated by a tiny engine that burns your choice of gasoline, biodiesel, hydrogen, or ethanol. It may be three or four years from reality, but it proves GM is serious about hybrids and alternative energy.

Honda is production-ready with an assortment of alternative energy cars. I’ve driven its first FCX hydrogen-fuel-cell FCX and its natural gas–burning Civic, both of which are quick and get great fuel economy with zero pollution. Honda’s new supersleek four-seat FCX will be the only street-legal hydrogen-burning vehicle in the United States. Honda also redid the popular CR-V, adding enough power to prove that a good four-cylinder engine makes a V6 unnecessary. Setting  the standard for a new subcompact segment is Honda’s Fit, which has features unexpected at that level and was runner-up to the Aura for Car of the Year. Another surprise is that one of the most exotic-looking cars was actually a production-ready Accord coupe, which will reach show rooms this fall, foretelling the next Accord sedan’s styling. Honda’s upscale Acura line revised its MDX performance-luxury SUV and added the RDX, a smaller, sportier, turbocharged four-cylinder SUV.

From Europe, Volvo continues to move upward, expanding its newly stylish dossier. Proving that full-sized luxury cars need not be bulky is the sleek-lined S80, available (for all-wheel-drive models) with the special lightweight Yamaha¬built V8 from the XC–90. A C30 compact hatchback is scheduled to hit  the U.S. market this fall.

With Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler Group making more and more cars at plants in Canada and Mexico, success depends on which cars can best coordinate with the global affiliates. Ford, for example, builds its Five Hundred sedan on the Volvo–designed S80 platform. The Edge crossover—the biggest news from Ford for 2007—is built on a lengthened and stiffened Mazda6 platform and has Ford’s potent new 3.5-liter V6 and a six-speed automatic. It’s a stunning departure from other Ford SUVs. Ford has also restyled the Focus compact, adding a sharp two-door coupe. Lincoln gets the MKX, a high-styled crossover with full Lincoln identity.