Products: Caddy CTS family gets muscle, maybe a coupe

— -- USA TODAY auto team members Sharon Silke Carty James R. Healey, and Chris Woodyard are in Detroit for the North American International Auto Show press preview days. Here, you'll find reports from them and from our wire services on the cars and trucks being unveiled at the show, which opens to the public Jan. 19.

Cadillac CTS-V:The Cadillac CTS, which has been a critical favorite since its debut a year ago, gets a high-powered cousin.

The CTS-V delivers 550 horses from a 6.2-liter supercharged V-8. True to its performance image, it will come with either a six-speed automatic or manual transmission.

No word yet on exactly how all this power will translate into asphalt-blistering speed or fuel economy.

To underscore its image, the CTS-V will come with 14-way adjustable Recaro racing seats. The raised hood will underscore the power underneath. And it will come with 19-inch wheels.

The CTS-V was initially introduced in 2004 and became popular enough that other Caddy's got the same treatment. All are capable of zero to 60 miles per hour in less than five seconds, General Motors says.

Cadillac also introduced a CTS coupe concept.

Toyota Venza: Toyota says the 2009 Venza "crossover-sedan" combines the benefits of a sports sedan with the space and utility of an SUV.

The Venza will go on sale late this year and is intended to reach consumers who have decided to trade-in their large sport-utility vehicle because of high gasoline prices but still want the extra space and towing abilities.

The vehicle will be built at Toyota's Georgetown, Ky., assembly plant.

Toyota expects to produce about 70,000 Venzas during its first full sales year.

Land Rover LRX concept:Even though its sale is being negotiated, Land Rover on Sunday unveiled a sleek new diesel-electric hybrid concept sport-utility vehicle that could move the storied British brand into a whole new direction.

Land Rover showed off its LRX concept, which Managing Director Phil Popham said will get 50 miles per gallon of gasoline and still have all of Land Rover's off-road capabilities.

Popham said it would take three years for Land Rover to bring a vehicle like the LRX to market because of the technology involved.

The vehicle would be smaller and lighter than Land Rover's LR2 SUV and would be more expensive with a premium exterior and interior, Popham said.

The LRX would be powered by 2-liter turbodiesel and integrated electric rear axle drive, the company said. It could use electric drive alone at lower speeds and retain mechanical drive to all four wheels when needed, the company said.

Popham said Land Rover has to make sure there's demand for the LRX in the 147 countries Land Rover does business in before rolling it out.

Lincoln MKT concept:Parts of its body are made of recycled soft-drink bottles and other waste, but you'd never know it by looking at the sleek new Lincoln MKT concept sport-utility vehicle.

Ford unveiled the futuristic four-seat MKT, complete with seats borrowed from the first-class section of jetliners, a windshield that extends to the back of the roof and an electrically operated hatch instead of a trunk.

Ford calls the vehicle a "premium utility," but it's built on car underpinnings. The company says it will be light and efficient, equipped with the company's new EcoBoost turbocharged V-6 engine that has the power of a V-8 but is more efficient.

While Peter Horbury, Ford's executive director of design for the Americas, stopped short of saying the concept would become a production model, he said: "It's not a fantasy. It's as realistic as any production car."

The MKT is so aerodynamic it has no door handles, just buttons on the trim that open the doors.

Chrysler ecoVoyager concept: This is an environmentally friendly vehicle that pretty much looks the same coming or going. Think of it visually as a cross between a Chrysler minivan and Volkswagen New Beetle.

The four-passenger ecoVoyager is an electric vehicle that has a hydrogen fuel-cell onboard to boost its range on long trips. As a daily commute vehicle, it can go 40 miles on power from its lithium-ion battery. The battery powers electric motors with the equivalent of 268 horsepower.

But because of the "range extender," its hydrogen powerplant, the ecoVoyager is capable of a 300-mile jaunt with no pollution, Chrysler says.

And bulbous exterior? Function as well as form, Chrysler says.

"While the ecoVoyager's supple, flowing one-box shape is purposely designed to achieve aerodynamic efficiencies, it also pushes the Chrysler brand language in a new direction of elegant simplicity," says Greg Howell, its chief exterior designer.

Dodge ZEO concept: As Chrysler tries to portray itself as an automaker that loves electric power, the Dodge ZEO is sure to garner some of the most attention.

The four-passenger, all-electric ZEO is "designed to break the paradigm of what an electric car should look like," says Bill Zheng, its chief exterior designer. Translation: An electric car need not look like a golf cart in a retirement community.

The car's lithium-ion battery is capable of a range of 250 miles between charges. In keeping with its two-plus-two sports car design, ZEO is supposedly capable of zero to 60 performance in less than six seconds, the company says. That's as good as a gas-powered Hemi.

In case you're wondering, ZEO stands for Zero Emissions Operation. But yes, it does sound like the name of a comic book hero.

Suzuki X-HEAD concept: Not exactly the vehicle for the warm and fuzzy. The X-HEAD was designed to look like a Tonka toy, and would feel right at home parked next to an earthmover.

The off-road vehicle, seen at last year's Tokyo Motor Show, has full-time, four-wheel-drive. Yet for all its brutishness, it has only a four-cylinder, 16-valve engine with a dual-clutch manual transmission.