7 Must-See Cars from the Detroit Auto Show

Detroit hosts its auto show every year in the depths of Michigan's winter, but this is the last year before the show shifts places on the automotive calendar from January to June. It's the end of an era, a somber occasion marked by a dwindling number of scheduled debuts. Several European automakers, including Mercedes-Benz and BMW, didn't even bother to show up this year. But the 2019 Detroit auto show refused to go gently into that wintry night: Hotly anticipated sports cars such as Toyota's new Supra and Ford's Mustang Shelby GT500 landed with a bang in Detroit's Cobo Center (the Mustang was actually lowered from the ceiling during its reveal!), and there were several consequential debuts from Cadillac, Ram, and Ford. We've gathered the highlights here.

With the XT6's arrival, Cadillac has fully fleshed out its SUV lineup. The three-row crossover sits above the two-row, mid-size XT5 and beneath the range-topping Escalade. Handsome and inoffensive-looking, the XT6 boasts a usefully roomy interior with space for adult passengers even in its third-row seat.

Partial credit for the interior's roominess goes to the XT6's tall, boxy greenhouse, which affords occupants generous headroom even in the third-row seat.

The rest of the package is wanting for more luxury, as well as a more interesting engine option than General Motors' corporate 3.6-liter V-6. Even so, look for this SUV to join the XT5 atop Cadillac's sales charts when it goes on sale this summer.

For 2020, the Explorer is all new and back to being based on a rear-drive platform. The new architecture gives the Explorer a pleasant stance and a long hood, although Ford largely hewed to current Explorer orthodoxy with the styling. (Translation: The Explorer continues to carry a whiff of Range Rover in its look.) A turbocharged four-cylinder engine is standard, while a 365-hp twin-turbo V-6 is optional.

Last year's Sport model gives way to an Explorer-first ST trim, pictured here, which boasts a 400-hp V-6 and a performance-tuned suspension.

An 8.0-inch touchscreen positioned horizontally, as pictured here, is standard. Ford is making available a 10.1-inch vertically oriented display that stands up like a tombstone from the dashboard surface.

Ford has yet to confirm how much horsepower the latest Mustang Shelby GT500 will have, but considering it has been guaranteed to make "more than 700 horsepower," does the specific number really matter? Surely Mopar fans are eagerly awaiting confirmation that their beloved Hellcat-powered Dodges will outgun the Shelby, but the Mustang's performance mission has little to do with drag-strip shenanigans.

This is a track-ready machine based on the one-rung-lower Shelby GT350 (can't you tell? It's on a track!), albeit with a supercharged 5.2-liter V-8, a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, and more rear wing.

Here's a fun fact about the GT500: Its Eaton TVS R2650 supercharger is the same 2.7-liter unit used in the 755-hp Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 and crams 12 psi of boost into an internally strengthened V-8. Another fun fact? Even though the 5.2-liter V-8 is based on the Voodoo engine used in the GT350, it lacks that model's special flat-plane crankshaft.

If today's automotive market is any indication, an automaker cannot have too many SUVs (just ask Jeep). Kia is answering the siren call and adding the 2020 Telluride to its lineup. The new three-row crossover is bigger than the mid-size, three-row Sorento and also is bolder in appearance, with a chunky, rectilinear look.

The Kia's trucky styling means it could be mistaken for American full-size SUVs like the GMC Yukon and the Chevrolet Tahoe. Underneath its beefy visage, the Telluride is related to the Hyundai Palisade, right down to its 291-hp 3.8-lter V-6 engine and available all-wheel drive.

Kia is clearly reaching upmarket with the Telluride's interior, which boasts several nods to high-end German SUVs, including chunky grab handles flanking the center console, a trio of air vents in the middle of the dashboard, and a floating infotainment display.

There weren't many concepts at this year's Detroit auto show-Nissan's IMs and Infiniti's QX Inspiration were the only other notables-but Lexus's LC convertible was easily the hottest.

It may not be totally fair to those other concepts to call the Lexus a show car, since it's really just a series-production LC coupe with its roof removed, but it has "concept" in its name, so who are we to judge? Whatever you call this LC droptop, prepare to refer to it as a production car: Lexus surely will be putting this on sale soon.

Yes, those are two seats you're seeing stuffed into the back of the LC convertible concept. We suspect they're about as usable as the shelves with seatbelts that adorn Porsche's 911. Look for the production model, should it happen, to stow its folding cloth roof behind these seats; that storage spot likely nixes the LC500h hybrid coupe's powertrain from the convertible roster, since its battery pack lives where the top would go. Instead, look for the LC500 coupe's 5.0-liter V-8 engine to be the lone powertrain option.

New pistons, said to be lighter and stronger, utilize low friction rings and ride on new forged connecting rods in a new block made from compacted graphite iron. The new cast-iron cylinder head is home to new rocker arms, exhaust valves, and springs.

In addition to the usual smorgasbord of tech, luxury, and utility options available a la carte, buyers can select from numerous body configurations including a regular cab with a 169.1-inch wheelbase and an 8.0-foot box, a crew cab available in either a 149.1-inch wheelbase with a 6.4-foot box or a 169.1 wheelbase with an 8.0-foot box, and Mega Cab models with a 160.2-inch wheelbase with a 6.4-foot box.

The full-size truck segment lives and dies by the numbers, and when you're talking diesels it's torque that gets the headlines.

After a 20-year hiatus, Toyota's Supra sports car is back, thanks largely to BMW. The Supra and BMW's new Z4 roadster were split at birth, and the German automaker contributed not only the inline-six engine, but also plenty of engineering work.

At launch, the Supra will come solely with the six-cylinder engine (making 335 horsepower) and a ZF-sourced eight-speed automatic transmission; a less expensive four-cylinder model will join the lineup later. It also comes standard with a great many vents, slats, and creases stamped and cut into its voluptuous body.

The interior styling largely follows current Toyota dogma, but the infotainment screen runs essentially a reskinned version of BMW's iDrive software, and much of the switchgear comes from Munich. With BMW having run point on the Z4/Supra development, it will release the Z4 first, this spring, with the Supra landing in Toyota dealerships a few months later in 2019.