Cadillac showed the Cadillac XTS Platinum Concept at the 2010 North American International Auto Show, suggesting a new paradigm for the luxury sedan of the future. The concept car showcases Cadillac’s emerging top-of-the-line Platinum series of models, emphasizing new expressions of luxury and technological features, including a plug-in hybrid propulsion system.

2010 Cadillac XTS Platinum Concept

The Cadillac XTS Platinum Concept was designed from the inside out, re-imagining the luxury sedan as a personal headquarters, built for efficiency, luxury and connectivity. The concept introduces a new approach to in-car electronics that improves the form and function of the car’s entertainment, navigation and information systems.

“The Cadillac XTS Platinum concept is the next expression of Cadillac’s Art and Science execution philosophy, reflecting our drive to deliver the latest innovations in the most artful manner,” said Bryan Nesbitt, Cadillac general manager. “We envisioned this concept as an automotive personal headquarters, using advanced technology to enable new levels of connectivity and luxury.”

2010 Cadillac XTS Platinum Concept

The Cadillac XTS Platinum Concept uses Cadillac’s 3.6L V-6 Direct Injection gas engine, paired with a plug-in hybrid system. The plug-in technology enables the battery to fully charge from a standard electrical outlet, enabling pure electric propulsion in many driving situations, especially urban commutes in which fuel efficiency may double that of a conventional hybrid.

2010 Cadillac XTS Platinum Concept

2010 Cadillac XTS Platinum Concept

Traditional luxury sedans were defined by elegant interiors and Cadillac XTS Platinum Concept propels that formula into the future. It delivers new approaches to luxury within a design that combines fine craftsmanship with customer-driven innovation. Like the current Platinum Edition products, such as Escalade Platinum and the STS and DTS Platinum sedans, the interior is based on hand cut-and-sewn materials. The Cadillac XTS Platinum Concept injects more contemporary forms and themes into the interior design, including the use of Organic Light-Emitting Diode (O-LED) displays in place of traditional gauges and screens.

Audi automobiles is depicting an uncompromising purist compact sports car with all-electric drive at the 2010 NAIAS. The Detroit Audi e-tron Concept is 3.93 meter (154.72 in) long and 1.78 meter (70.08 in) wide but just 1.22 meter (48.03 in) tall two-seater; just a few months after the debut of the Audi e-tron Concept at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show, this is now the second electric concept vehicle from the brand with the four rings.

2010 Audi e-tron Concept

Coupled with the Detroit Audi e-tron Concept’s low gross weight of around only 1,350 kilograms (2976.24 lb), high-torque power units driving the rear wheels guarantee commensurate road performance. Two electric motors with a combined output of 150 kW (204 hp) and 2,650 Nm (1954.54 lb-ft) accelerate the coupe with ASF-design aluminum body from 0 to 100 km/h (62.14 mph) in just 5.9 seconds. The Audi e-tron Concept accomplishes the sprint from 60 to 120 km/h (37.28 – 74.56 mph) in a mere 5.1 seconds.

2010 Audi e-tron Concept

2010 Audi e-tron Concept

2010 Audi e-tron Concept

The Detroit Audi e-tron Concept is able to distribute its electric motors’ high torque between the wheels entirely as required. Its “torque vectoring” is the key to a thrilling level of active precision and excellent traction. Thanks also to its low weight, short wheelbase and perfect weight distribution for dynamic handling, the Audi e-tron Concept has all the drivability of a go-kart – agile, good on bends and neutral right up to the very high handling limit.

For German automobiles Volkswagen this marks the beginning of an action-packed year, in which more new models will be introduced than ever before in the company’s history. Number 1 on the spectacular list of new products for calendar year 2010 is a sedan based on entirely new concepts and technology, a coupe with a hybrid drive that is extremely fast and yet futuristic in its fuel economy. It features sports appeal and sharp styling yet is remarkably elegant – positioned between the Europe’s bestselling sports car, the VW Scirocco, and the internationally successful CC. Its name: the Volkswagen New Compact Coupe Concept. Site of its world premiere: Detroit, North American International Auto Show (January 11 to 24, 2010). Combined fuel consumption: 4.2 l/100 km (45 mpg)! CO2 emissions: 98 g/km! Incredible, considering its fuel economy, are its top speed of 227 km/h (141 mph) and the short 8.6 seconds it needs for the classic sprint to 100 km/h (0-60 mph in 8.1 seconds).

2010 Volkswagen New Compact Coupe Concept Picture

2010 Volkswagen New Compact Coupe Concept Car

2010 Volkswagen New Compact Coupe Concept

These values were made technically feasible by a high-tech alliance: a TSI engine (gasoline powered with 110 kW / 150 PS) that is as fuel efficient as it is sporty, an electric motor (20 kW / 27 PS) and a 7-speed Direct Shift Gearbox (DSG) – which in the eyes of many car drivers is the best automatic in the world today. Just over a month after the debut of the most fuel-efficient four-seater in the world – the VW Up! Lite in Los Angeles – this new concept car confirms once again that future Volkswagen hybrid vehicles will not only focus on fuel economy, but – similar to pure gasoline and diesel versions of Europe’s most successful automobile brand – will also aim to be sporty and fun to drive. In the first half of the year, Volkswagen will launch its first hybrid model on the market under the VW label – an SUV with full-time all-wheel drive. Meanwhile, the Volkswagen New Compact Coupe Concept shows, both technically and visually, how Volkswagen envisions a front-wheel drive hybrid for the compact class that would be implemented when the time is right.

Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A, Inc., launched the Toyota FT-CH Concept dedicated hybrid at the 2010 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit. The Toyota FT-CH is a concept that will support Toyota’s stated strategy to give a wider variety of conventional hybrid choices to its customers, as it begins to introduce plug-in hybrids (PHVs) and battery electrics (BEVs) in model year 2012, and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FCHVs) in 2015 in global markets.

“Within the next 10 to 20 years, we will not only reach peak oil we will enter a period where demand for all liquid fuels will exceed supply,” said Jim Lentz, TMS president. “A century after the invention of the automobile, we must re-invent it with powertrains that significantly reduce or eliminate the use of conventional petroleum fuels. One of many alternatives is through what is commonly called the electrification of the automobile. By far, the single most successful example of this has been the gas-electric hybrid.”

2010 Toyota FT-CH Concept

2010 Toyota FT-CH Concept

2010 Toyota FT-CH Concept

The CH stands for compact hybrid as in compact class and it’s a concept that can best be defined by comparing it with the mid-size class Prius. The Toyota FT-CH Concept captures the spirit and functionality of a car that thrives in the inner-city environment; sized right to be nimble, responsive and maneuverable.

“It’s a package Toyota dealers and customers have been asking for,” added Lentz.

The Toyota FT-CH Concept was styled at Toyota’s European Design and Development (ED²) center in Nice, France. Compared to Toyota Prius, it is 22 inches shorter in overall length, yet loses less than an inch in overall width. In spite of its compact external dimensions, Toyota FT-CH Concept was designed for maximum passenger comfort and interior roominess, with an imaginative sense of style.

Uniting an urban-industrial design aesthetic with functionality aimed at young professionals, the GMC Granite Concept sets the brand’s trademark capability in a new, more progressive direction. It was unveiled at the 2010 North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

2010 GMC Granite Concept Car

If brought to market, the GMC Granite Concept would be the smallest GMC ever – but has been optimized to feel much larger. Its length is a full 2 feet (0.6 m) shorter than the new Terrain compact crossover, but its open interior was designed to be spacious and flexible to fit the needs of active people. Generous cargo space and unique flipping/folding seats, for example, enable a mountain bike to be loaded completely inside with the tailgate closed.

2010 GMC Granite Concept

2010 GMC Granite Concept

2010 GMC Granite Concept

“GMC Granite Concept was conceived as a new type of vehicle from GMC – one that could stretch people’s ideas of what a GMC can be,” said Lisa Hutchinson, product marketing director for GMC. “We call it an ‘urban utility vehicle’ and our goal was redefining what the GMC name could mean to a new generation of customers looking for both bold design and functionality.”