DETROIT — The 25th annual North American International Auto Show is gearing up to be the largest in years.
Automakers are planning to display hundreds of vehicles at this year’s show, including more than 50 new car and trucks.
Officials anticipate this year’s show, which opens Saturday, to be the largest since the early-2000s, as 35 brands from 16 automakers display more than 700 vehicles, including the 2015 Ford Mustang and 2015 Chevrolet Corvette Z06.
n emerging trend for this year’s show is h
…
DETROIT — The 25th annual North American International Auto Show is gearing up to be the largest in years.
Automakers are planning to display hundreds of vehicles at this year’s show, including more than 50 new car and trucks.
Officials anticipate this year’s show, which opens Saturday, to be the largest since the early-2000s, as 35 brands from 16 automakers display more than 700 vehicles, including the 2015 Ford Mustang and 2015 Chevrolet Corvette Z06.
n emerging trend for this year’s show is high-performance sport and muscle cars. About 15-20 of the new debuts this year are expected to fall in that category.
Kelley Blue Book senior analyst Karl Brauer said the amount of “fun” vehicle debuts, including a dozen or so concept cars and trucks, is a sign of the strength of the U.S. auto industry, which sold 15.6 million vehicles in 2013 — marking the highest sales volume since 16.1 million vehicles in 2007.
“The theme is ‘we’re alive again,’ ” said Brauer, adding automakers are having a lot of fun with “frivolous, niche specialized products.”
One thing not expected to be a big part of this year’s show are “green” vehicles. Automakers will have alternative-fuel vehicles on display, but they are not expected to be in the spotlight like they have been in year’s past.
Instead, pickup trucks are once again taking center stage at this year’s show.
The show, which ends Jan. 26, is considered one of the top global automotive events in the world.
— Reporting and video from OregonLive affiliate MLive. Read all of MLive’s coverage.
