Unfortunately, I was not able to make it out to Detroit again this year for the auto show. This year’s show had several key unveilings of both production-ready models and concepts. Here’s my top 10 news items from the show:

10) 2007 Toyota Camry
About once a month someone is asking me what my pick is for a $20-25k family sedan. I’ve recommended the Accord, Mazda6, Passat, and Altima… never the Camry? Why? Well, the reason is because between the two obvious Maytag-like choices, those being the Camry and Accord, I always recommend the Accord because of it’s better aesthetics and better driving feel. Well, it looks like Toyota has come back swinging with its latest generation. Genuinely nice styling in and out, optional class-leading 268hp V6 mated to a 6spd automatic (impressive 22/31 mpg to boot) and well-equipped (moonroof and premium 6cd in-dash stereo standard on the volume leader LE). Unfortunately, the SE variant is still all show. There’s also a Camry Hybrid coming but I’m pretty much anti-Hybrid so I could care less.

9) Honda Fit
Finally Honda brings the Jazz/Fit stateside. I would have liked to see Honda work some of it’s magic to pull off 40mpg instead of the somewhat unimpressive 33/38mpg that it gets from it’s 1.5L inline4. I thought I had read Honda was going to use a CVT which would have boosted fuel economy and performance but I guess not. Without a doubt, it’s boxy mini-wagon shape hurts freeway efficiency. Anyways, the Fit is going to sell well. You get a cheap, reliable, good-looking car with a lot of utility. And it’s less quirky than the Scion’s of the world. It’ll be interesting to see how this car competes with the impressive, new Toyota Yaris.

8) Chevrolet Camaro Concept
At last year’s show, I couldn’t take my eyes off of the C6 Z06 that debuted. This year I can’t take my eyes off the Camaro Concept. Chevy show-stoppers two years in a row? Who would have thunk it? The news is this concept will go into production in 2009. I’m just hoping that Chevy will actually build something that’s close to the concept. They need to. Unfortunately, for Chevy (and GM), 2009 is a long long way off and with the way things are for GM, they may not have enough money to build a great production Camaro even if they want to. I’ve got a bad feeling that when this car hits showrooms 3 years from now, it’s gonna have Chevy’s typical rental-car feel as standard equipment.

7) Mazda Kabura Concept
I love this concept. It’s like the Miata and RX-8 had a baby. If Mazda builds this with the RENESIS motor this would be one brilliant, affordable sports car.

6) Dodge Challenger
This car is going to give the Mustang a run for its money. The Challenger looks mean just sitting there. My gripe: Based on all estimates I’ve seen, the Challenger is a 4000lb car. A 2-ton sports car? Ugh. Sure, with wide enough rubber, big brakes, and gobs of torque, it’s a capable car. But sometimes I wish the Big 3 wouldn’t just be complacent with the brute force approach. Unfortunately, most Americans (read: NASCAR fans) seem to prefer improving power-to-weight ratio by adding power rather than reducing weight.

5) Subaru B5-TPH

What makes this car so noteworthy is its technology tour-de-force powertrain. TPH stands for Turbo Parallel Hybrid. “the TPH drivetrain consists of a 10kW electric motor sandwiched between the transmission and turbocharged boxer engine. ” The electric motor eliminates turbo lag. The engine incorporates a Miller-cycle engine (anyone remember the Mazda Millenia S?). To top it all off, the Hybrid system even incorporates Lithium Ion batteries.

4) Infiniti Coupe Concept

This car gets my #3 vote (#1 Camaro Concept, #2 Lamborghini Miura Concept)for best looking car of the show. It’s vehicles like this (rumor is this concept is actually very close to what the next-gen G coupe will be) that confirm my belief since the release of the current generation G35 in 2002 that Nissan is serious about turning Infiniti into a world-class luxury brand. This concept is a beautiful evolution of the current generation car and assuming the rest of the specs hit the mark, it’s bound to be a hit for Infiniti. Amid super stiff competiton in the near-luxury segement, it’s absolutely critical that Infiniti continue the momentum they’ve got going right now.

3) Mercedes E320 BLUETEC
I’m a big supporter of diesel. For those that don’t know, diesel technology has come a long, long way in the past several years. Diesel engines are 20-40% more efficient than an equivalent gasoline engine. In Europe where gas is $$$, half of all new cars sold in 2005 were diesel-powered. Unfortunately, because of higher-sulfur content diesel fuel and tighter emission regulations here in the US, there’s not many diesel cars on the market. Well, Mercedes has developed a new diesel technology called BLUETEC which significantly reduces emissions. The E320 will be the first model here in the US to sport BLUETEC but DC is going to be building BLUETEC-powered Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep models as well. This is a BIG step forward for diesel in the US. Diesel makes sense. Hybrid does not. Up until now VW with their TDI-powered models has really been the only one serious about selling diesel in the US. With DCX getting serious about it too, diesel momentum should build.

2) Honda sweeps both the North American Car and Truck awards

This is Honda’s first time winning either award but most importantly it’s the first time in history that a single manufacturer has captured both awards. What an achievement! Both the Civic and Ridgeline are great examples of Honda’s phenomenal execution. I can’t think of another company that has such a high rate of winners over such a long period of time.

1) Geely makes history

The Geely 7151 CK may make a Kia feel like a Lexus, but what’s so historic about it is Geely is the first Chinese automobile manufacturer to to appear at the NAIAS. Chinese manufacturers certainly have their work cut out for them. Not only do they need to build competitive cars for the US market but also they need to build their own brand identity while fighting generally negative perception of a Chinese made car. It’s been 15 years since Hyundai debuted here in the US and they are still fighting an uphill battle (although Hyundai and Kia have been on somewhat of a roll of late). Ultimately, American consumers will benefit from increased competition so I welcome Geely and other Chinese companies with open arms.

There’s a good chance I’ll be attending the NYC show in April this year. Hopefully I’ll get to see all all the new model/concept debuts in person.