For the 26th consecutive year, Detroit hosted the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS), a trade show whose history as a regional event dates back as far as 1907. This year's edition began on January 12 and ran through January 25 at the Cobo Center. The first five days were limited to industry insiders and members of the press, with the show opening to the public on January 17.
Among the early speakers and high-profile visitors were the always colorful Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors, Chrysler and Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne and Michigan Governor Rick Snyder. Detroit mainstays like Cadillac, Chevrolet, Dodge and Ford (the new GT even caught the eye of Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander) presented new models alongside Asian and European makers, and a handful of concept cars were also showcased.
The show hosted two competitions for creative designs and a Technology Showcase for innovations in automation, connectivity and efficiency in vehicles. The Volkswagen Golf Mk7 and 13th generation Ford F-150 received the car and truck of the year awards, respectively.
Much of the focus was on electric cars, with the aforementioned Tesla and the Chevy Volt among the featured models, while Honda debuted a hydrogen fuel cell powered concept vehicle. Another futuristic development that has been getting plenty of press lately is the self-driving car. While they're not close to entering the market, some makers are already introducing features to keep vehicles in their lanes or brake automatically.
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