Neil Winton Ford Focus the pick of the bunch at the NAIAS

The new range will start production simultaneously in Europe and North America in late 2010 and go on sale early in 2011. Asia, Africa and South America production will follow.

The car looks a bit like a large Ford Fiesta, no bad thing when you consider how handsome that is. Looking over the car, there are very expensive-looking design touches in the headlights and rear light clusters. The interior on the show models makes you think BMW rather than Ford. Even GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz approves.

"Pretty impressive. Nice car," Lutz said as he toured the Ford stand Wednesday.

All this class makes you wonder how Ford will compete on price in a tough competitive world. And this is supposedly the first global car for Ford, provoking the question, will the Focus play in Beijing, Bombay, Brighton, Buenos Aires and Baltimore?

Honda CR-Z

Honda unveiled its new CR-Z hybrid sporty compact, with a 1.5 liter engine, and less-powerful electric motor than used in the bigger Insight and Civic hybrids. This is a very small car by American standards, with much style, likely to appeal to young buyers who want only two seats. The CR-Z will be the first hybrid available with a manual gearbox. It's got six speeds. A CVT automatic with steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters is optional. New to the hybrid system is a three-mode drive option that gives a choice between sport, economy and normal driving. The interior features three-dimensional instruments. The CR-Z goes on sale in late summer.

Toyota FT-CH

Toyota was expected to launch a similar two-door car to the Honda CR-Z, but it launched a smaller version of the Prius, and said it might launch a whole brand of hybrids later. This will naturally be called the Prius brand. The FT-CH, CH stands for concept hybrid, is similarly aimed at the young. The design is edgy, and the headlights are in clusters of three. There is no timetable set for production of the FT-CH. Toyota's European design and development center in Nice, France, styled the FT-CH.

Mercedes E convertible

The Mercedes E class convertible was the only notable newcomer on the Mercedes stand, and completes the new E class family. The convertible, which replaces the CLK, goes on sale in May, a month before the new E class wagon. On the Mercedes stand, I spied a new version of the monstrous Maybach limousine. This was called the Maybach Zeppelin. Oh, to have the money and the arrogance to drive around in a high-priced car called a Zeppelin.

Fiat 500 electric

Chrysler is emerging from bankruptcy, under the mentorship of Fiat, and had no new cars on its stand as it revamps its lineup with smaller cars and engines from Italy. The Chrysler stand was livened up with some Latin flair though, with Fiat's Maserati and Ferrari supercars lined up alongside the Chrysler 300Cs, Dodges and Jeeps. There was a Lancia Delta (Lancia is Fiat's upmarket brand) with a Chrysler face, with the daring use of a scantily clad model, very rare at the Detroit show. An electric Fiat 500 was the stand's centerpiece. The teeny 500 on show was sporting an electric motor at the front, but with the doors and trunk open, the batteries must have been hidden under the back seat.

Electric Avenue

One corner of the show, Electric Avenue, was reminiscent of the Star Wars lounge bar, devoted to electric vehicles of varying degrees of weirdness. There was the Tango, dubbed the fastest urban car in the world, which seats two, motorcycle style. Various little runabouts looking like variations on the Smart theme were everywhere. The Nissan Leaf, which will launch Nissan-Renault's battery assault (wildly overblown in my opinion) next year was there. The only sensible section of Electric Avenue was a collection of battery-powered golf carts. With a range of 30 miles at an admittedly slow 15 mph, surely these cheap, proven, low-tech little vehicles will take junior to school and take care of the shopping without having to buy some hugely expensive, inflexible battery car?

Buick Regal

The GM stand looked a bit forlorn, as it used the same space as last year with four fewer brands to show off. But now we've seen the last of Saturn, Pontiac, Saab and Hummer, the offerings from Buick, Chevrolet and GMC looked very attractive, in my opinion. The Buick Regal (based on the European Opel Insignia) is terrific. The small Chevys -- Spark, Aveo and Cruze -- are cute and attractive. And the count down to the revolutionary Chevrolet Volt extended range electric vehicle has started. Cadillac's terrific style is at least a match for the Europeans. I give you the Cadillac CTS-V Coupe. The stunning electric Converj, set for production in a couple of years, didn't appear though. The GMC Granite concept was hidden away at the back of the GM stand. What a shame to hide this futuristic looking urban utility vehicle.

Kia Sorento

South Korea's Kia continues to set the pace for value for the money, and impressive warranties. Kia unveiled the new Sorento SUV, priced at $20,000 and with a host of standard features which the other manufacturers charge lots of money for. The fact that the Sorento is now manufactured in America might well be a deal maker.

VW NCC

Despite an impressive model lineup, VW of Germany still doesn't pull its weight in America. Its New Compact Coupe (NCC), a hybrid coupe concept, might impress some waverers.

The NCC is a two-door, four-seat sporty hybrid concept, which can reach 141 mph, sprint to 60 mph from rest in 8.1 seconds and return 45 mpg. It does look a bit too much like the BMW 3 Series coupe, though.

The NCC is powered by a 1.4 liter, 150 hp, four-cylinder direct injection gasoline engine and a 27 hp electric motor, combined with a 7-speed dual clutch automatic gearbox.

VW of America's new factory in Chattanooga, Tenn., will start producing cars just over a year from now, and will reach 150,000 vehicles a year. That might be just what the waverers want to hear.

Jaguar XJ

We all know that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but is there a more wonderful-looking machine at the show than the new Jaguar XJ? The XJ won't win any prizes for its carbon footprint. After all, it is powered either by a 5.0 liter 385 hp V8 engine, a supercharged 5.0 liter 470 hp V8 or a 5.0 liter 510 hp V8. No talk of batteries, hybrids or plug-ins here. There's not even a diesel, at least in the United States. But for sheer looks and pizzazz, it will take some beating. The new XJ, now on sale in the United States with a base price of $72,500, is in stark contrast to the bland design of the smaller Jaguar XF.

Audi R8 Spyder 5.2 FSI

This mid-engined two-seater is a close competitor in the beauty stakes, not least for its amazing color. Pity its appearance was marred by the missing gear selector, presumably plundered on the last press day Tuesday.