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Why the 2015 Detroit Auto Show will be the best since The Crisis

The Detroit Auto Show clearly has its swagger back, and the 2015 edition will be a veritable feast for the enthusiast senses. We're talking serious performance, and it will be exhibited in a variety of forms. Sports cars. Supercars. Muscle-bound luxury cars. They're all set for splashy debuts in January in the Motor City. It's another signpost that companies have recovered from the global economic crisis that gripped the industry from 2008-09. For a while, automakers played it safe at Detroit and other shows. Environmentally friendly cars were important, especially for General Motors and Chrysler that were living on loans from Uncle Sam. Ford, Toyota and other companies generally focused on their best-selling or core models. With a few notable exceptions, recent auto shows have been a bit more buttoned-down than in the past. Boring probably isn't the right word, but austerity has been reality. That's changing. Car companies are making money. Sales are up. Aside from the many nagging recalls – and they are notable – the industry now has the time and energy to make performance cars a priority. That will be offered in hard evidence in Detroit. A year from now when we look back at this auto show, we'll sum it up with one word: Horsepower. But make no mistake, this isn't frivolous. Sports and luxury cars are expensive. They're profitable. They boost images and highlight strengths. With that in mind, here are five significant performance-oriented reveals to watch for when the show kicks off in less than two weeks. 2016 Acura NSX Acura's reborn NSX is a strong bet to earn plenty of votes for our Editors' Choice awards. It's one of the most anticipated – and strung-out – reveals of the year. Think back: we actually saw an NSX concept at the 2012 Detroit show, and Acura has spent the last three years teasing the car in a variety of ways. The slow burn, however, means we know a lot about the NSX. It's will use a mid-mounted twin-turbo hybrid powertrain and run with all-wheel drive. It will also wear an innovative zirconium e-coat paint, a new paint process that Honda says is more environmentally friendly. Honda has also said it will build the new NSX in Ohio, where a large part of the car's development work has been done. The original NSX was produced from 1990-2005 and helped establish Acura's performance credentials in the United States. It was a landmark car and a shot across the bow of Ferrari, Lamborghini and others.

2019 Cadillac ATS-V Coupe Drivers' Notes Review | Not your granddad's Coupe de Ville

The 2019 ATS-V is Cadillac's smallest car, slotting below both the CTS and CT6 sedans. It's also the automaker's only two-door model, helping compete against the Audi RS5, BMW M4 and Mercedes-AMG C 63 Coupe. Based on the GM Alpha platform, the ATS shares more than a little with the Chevrolet Camaro. Unlike the Camaro, the high-performance V variant uses a twin turbo V6. Like the Chevy, power is sent to the rear wheels through either a six-speed manual or eight-speed automatic. Our Wave Metallic blue test car has about $10,000 worth of options, the most expensive of which are the $2,300 Recaro sport seats. The Luxury Package — alloy pedals, HID headlights, navigation and a Bose stereo system — tacks on another $2,100. There are some visual upgrades, too, including $1,295 for a dealer-installed carbon-fiber engine cover. All in, this ATS-V rang up for $78,775. Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore: Cadillac has problems, but the ATS-V coupe isn't one of them. It's everything former Cadillac president Johan de Nysschen hoped the brand could achieve in the sporting realm. The car has a tight yet tolerable suspension. The steering is direct but not overly weighted. The engine burbles and growls with noticeable attitude. It's all underscored by the six-speed manual transmission, which has a heavy clutch and requires precise throws. It's a serious sports coupe for enthusiasts. Cadillac's style is brash, edgy and sharp. It's all of those things literally and figuratively. Note the cuts and creases. The ATS is borderline severe – but I like it. I think it's smart for Cadillac to really go for it in the design department. Cadillac is again tweaking its lineup and the ATS sedan and ultimately the coupe will be replaced. Still, there's a place for a car like the ATS-V coupe in the Caddy stable. There should be, anyway. The devil is in the engine, but the details of the @Cadillac ATS-V Coupe aren't bad either. @therealautoblog pic.twitter.com/7fQOrBkxeE — Greg Migliore (@GregMigliore) October 29, 2018 Associate Editor Reese Counts: I forgot how great this thing is to drive. I won't repeat all of Greg's comments, but suffice it to say that it's everything you want in a luxury sports coupe — direct steering, a chassis that balances performance and comfort and a potent engine. Combine sharp styling and competitive pricing, and you have one of the most compelling non-German luxury cars on the market.

Why Cadillac needs a real truck in its lineup

Premium brands such as BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Lexus, and Cadillac sell vehicles that cover the spectrum from car to crossover to SUV. But trucks? They remain the last frontier when it comes to luxury brands. These days Chevy, GMC, Ford, and Ram sell cheap, bare-bones work trucks alongside loaded models that top $75,000. There is a reverse elitism that comes with this sales tactic. A brand gets to reflect a rugged working class lifestyle with the emblem up front, while what's behind it costs as much as a small house in middle America. But Americans who spend big money on cars and SUVs have always gradually tailed towards luxury nameplates over time. Everyone knows what an Escalade is, and thanks in large part to that image the Escalade is now the best-selling fullsize luxury SUV in the USA. Cadillac's flagship model, along with its midsize luxury crossover, the SRX, routinely outsell the competition from Audi, Mercedes, and BMW, not to mention Ford's Lincoln brand and most of the Japanese rivals. With trucks already dominating overall sales and headed into the pricing stratosphere, I believe it's time for Cadillac to consider a fullsize truck. And no, not a lipstick version that merely takes a Chevrolet Silverado pickup and throws in a few leather seats and some slight interior touches. That experiment already failed both for Cadillac (the Escalade EXT) and for Ford's Lincoln brand (Blackwood, Mark LT). Cadillac is an American brand that currently focuses a ridiculous amount of energy and resources trying to compete with European car offerings. The brand needs to create the Cadillac of trucks. Head honcho Johan de Nysschen has been blunt in his desire to "restore Cadillac to the pinnacle of global premium brands, not in sales but in aspirational brand character." This sounds well and wonderful. But the present problem in achieving this goal is that, on a global basis, Cadillac is a failed brand. Look at Europe, where Cadillac has sold so poorly in recent years that former Soviet manufacturer Lada managed more new registrations in 2014 by a factor of more than four to one. Cadillac is an American brand that currently focuses a ridiculous amount of energy and resources trying to compete with European car offerings. After more than 20 years of Cadillac models selling themselves as import killers, the only one with sustained success has been the CTS, and even that has been a marketplace loser for the last several years. The CTS-V?