Horsepower gallops back to vogue in Detroit

The US car industry has come full circle and returns to old-fashioned horsepower at this year's Detroit motor show, with large pick-ups and "America's Ferrari" set to steal the limelight from imported exotica.

Centre of attention at the show, which opened overnight Australian time, is Ford's new F Series truck, which has for decades held the title as the planet's favourite vehicle and makes a watershed move to aluminium construction.

The bold decision, aimed at cutting fuel consumption, takes aluminium mainstream and makes Forda pioneer in volume production using the metal.
Demand for pick-ups has rebounded since the global financial crisis and Ford sold more than 760,000 of the outgoing F Series last year, up 18 per cent.

It has kept details of the redesign secret and will hope it can upstage its rival from General Motors, the Chevrolet Silverado, tipped to win Truck of the Year.

US buyers strongly favour full-size pick-ups but last year GM broke ranks and offered a version of the smaller Colorado, described as "mid-size" in the US. At a preview event for the show, GM unveiled the GMC Canyon, a more upmarket version of the Colorado with a bull nose and acres of chrome.

It marked the first appearance for Mary Barra since she was named chief executive - the only woman to lead one of the car giants. "I'm honoured to stand here tonight and humbly lead this team," Ms Barra said. "It's a team of men and women doing unbelievably great work."

It comes just weeks after GM shed its "government motors" tag, with Washington selling the last of the shares acquired during the GFC. As well as a truck award, GM is also in the running for Car of the Year with two out of the three finalists -- a Cadillac and its reborn Chevrolet Corvette. The new Corvette has earned a reputation for delivering Italian sportscar performance at a fraction of the price. A track-focused version, called the Z06, will be GM's show star.

The Z06 will compete for crowd attention with the Ford Mustang, which makes its first public appearance after private unveilings last month.
GM's recovery milestone has a parallel at Chrysler, after Fiat recently acquired complete control.

The smallest of the US "Big Three" is now wholly foreign-owned but rebounding thanks to a focus on Americana, with its controversially redesigned Jeep Cherokee SUV winning over sceptics. It too is in the running for Truck of the Year.

Unlike the F Series and Corvette, it will be shipped to Australia starting mid-year. Hometown drawcards will force foreign brands backstage despite an impressive line-up.

German and Japanese carmakers are also stressing traditional petrol-driven horsepower with an exceptional crop of performance cars. BMW debuts two halo junior executives in the M3 sedan and M4 coupe, which drop V8s in favour of six cylinders but have more power and better efficiency thanks to turbocharging.

Lexus has the M4 in its sights with the RC F, a V8 coupe based on its mid-size luxury sedan. Meanwhile, Mercedes rolls out its next generation C-Class and a tuned version of its small off-roader, the GLA 45 AMG; Porsche shows a retro-flavoured 911 Targa sportscar; and Mini a concept that previews the upcoming John Cooper Works go-fast edition.

Audi will attract attention for a crossover concept. It is expected to preview its smallest SUV yet, likely to be called Q1. The Detroit show has yet to return to its glory days of over-the-top presentations and for-the-fun-of-it concept cars, but the industry has been bolstered by 15.6 million sales last year and newfound confidence after the economic storm of four years ago.