High-end vehicles and crossovers will take center stage in Motown

Auto shows used to have their niches. Detroit was the show for pickups. New York was for luxury cars, especially chauffeur-worthy ones. Los Angeles and Tokyo highlighted green tech-nologies.

No more. This year, the Detroit auto show's focus will be on luxury vehicles and crossovers.

BMW and Mercedes-Benz pull the wraps off multiple vehicles. Porsche, Lexus, Infiniti, Volvo, Audi, Lincoln and Hyundai's new Genesis brand join the luxury parade.

GMC, BMW and perhaps Audi will unveil new or redesigned crossovers.

As for pickups, the sole production pickup officially scheduled for a global debut in Detroit is the redesigned Honda Ridgeline.

-- James B. Treece

Acura will debut a concept car it calls the Precision Concept. The sedan is a look at the future design direction of the brand, although it doesn't presage any specific production model.

Audi promises a global debut of a production vehicle and a concept vehicle but is coy about details.

Rumors abound that Audi will take the wraps off the A5 or Q5 in Detroit. A redesigned A5 coupe is on track to land stateside in the second half of 2016, though it may be pushed to early 2017. The Q5 crossover, Audi's top-selling U.S. nameplate, will be redesigned for sale in the U.S. in 2017 and will go into production in the second half of 2016 as the first product assembled at Audi's plant in San Jose Chiapa, Mexico.

The BMW M2 coupe and X4 M40i crossover will make their world debuts in Detroit, sort of.

Photos of the M2 were released in October, though it hasn't been shown to the public. The successor to the 1-series M boasts a 3.0-liter, six-cylinder engine putting out 365 hp. It is due in dealerships in the spring.

The 2016 X4 M40i sport crossover, based on the X4 xDrive35i, comes with a turbocharged 3.0-liter, six-cylinder engine with 355 hp and a 0-to-60 mph time of 4.7 seconds. It will arrive in U.S. showrooms in February.

Buick will have its China-built Envision compact crossover on display, a U.S.-market version of the model that has been sold in China since 2014.

Brand executives also are believed to be planning a surprise reveal at an off-site pre-show party on Sunday night, Jan. 10, before the show opens, hoping to repeat the splash they made with the unveiling of the sleek Avenir concept sedan at a similar event last year. Buick has no press conference scheduled at the show.

Chevy is expected to lift the wraps off the production version of its Bolt electric vehicle this week at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, where General Motors CEO Mary Barra is a keynote speaker.

While the Bolt is likely to appear at Chevy's press conference in Detroit, the main attraction should be the hatchback version of the redesigned Cruze sedan. The car is viewed as a Ford Focus and Mazda3 fighter.

A redesigned Chrysler minivan will debut at the Detroit auto show with a number of new or updated features, such as foot-activated side and rear doors and redesigned Stow 'n Go seats. It will also feature an improved 3.6-liter Pentastar V-6 engine. The redesigned minivan is due in showrooms in late spring 2016. A plug-in hybrid variant, to follow at dealerships about six months later, may also make an appearance.

Ford has a quieter year for new products on tap, after a busy 2015 that included ramping up the redesigned F-150 and unveiling a performance division led by the GT supercar.

For Detroit, the automaker is expected to show a freshened Fusion sedan. With that comes an update to the plug-in hybrid version known as the Fusion Energi; during a recent media tour, Ford had a Fusion-size plug-in hidden under a cloth next to a sign saying it was "top secret" until Jan. 11. Ford may also show more versions of the F-150 Raptor, which goes on sale this year.

GM's truck brand will unveil a redesign of its Acadia full-size crossover to replace the first generation, which went on sale in late 2006. The vehicle is expected to shrink in size by moving to a new midsize platform that also is expected to underpin a new Chevy crossover slated for arrival in 2017.

Detroit will be the global debut of the Ridgeline, Honda's second-generation midsize pickup. It will ride on the same unibody platform as the Odyssey minivan and Pilot crossover and will share their 3.5-liter V-6 engine.

Hyundai plans to introduce the first nameplate from its new Genesis luxury brand: a full-size sedan called the G90, which replaces the Hyundai Equus. Shown during a December event in Seoul and already on sale in South Korea, the G90 will go on sale in the U.S. in the second half of 2016.

Wearing the brand's "athletic elegance" styling, the G90 will offer the choice of three engines: a 3.8-liter V-6, a 3.3-liter twin-turbo V-6 and a 5.0-liter V-8.

Infiniti will present the 2017 Q60 sport coupe in Detroit, a redesign of the coupe-mate of the Q50 sedan. The '17 Q60 adopts the brand's new design language to replace a vehicle that had been marketed as the G37 coupe.

The rear roofline slopes into a shorter rear deck. A mesh grille replaces the brand's previous blade grille. The 3.7-liter V-6 carries over, but additional engines are now likely for the model.

The rumor mill is mixed: Some whispers say Kia will unveil the freshened 2017 Forte sedan, while others say the wraps will come off at another show. Kia also sells a coupe and five-door version of the Forte.

Lexus could have one of the hits of Detroit, or at least some of the biggest news. The brand is expected to show a new model called the LC, a full-size, rear-wheel-drive grand touring coupe targeting the Mercedes-Benz SL.

The LC will use a new rwd modular platform that will go on to underpin future versions of all Lexus rwd cars, including the IS, GS, RC and LS. It also will also use the 5.0-liter V-8 from the RC F and GS F and will be paired with a new Aisin 10-speed automatic transmission. It'll be a low-volume seller, probably starting in the $100,000 range.

After rolling out two crossovers in 2014 and 2015, Lincoln will focus on sedans in 2016. It likely will use the Detroit show to unveil the production version of the Continental, which has changed little from the concept car Lincoln debuted last spring. The Continental hits dealerships this year, shortly after shipments of the freshened MKZ sedan start. Both cars feature a new, rectangular grille design in place of the split-wing look, as well as the most powerful engine ever dropped into a Lincoln.

Detroit is a big car show for Mercedes-Benz. Making world debuts are the redesigned E-class sedan, the freshened and renamed SLC roadster (formerly the SLK) and the new Mercedes-AMG S65 convertible.

The 2017 E class will go on sale in early summer, while the 2017 SLC goes on sale in the spring. The 2017 S65 convertible arrives at U.S. dealerships in late summer.

The midsize E class is the brand's most important launch of the year. It's Mercedes' No. 2 selling nameplate in the U.S., after the C class. The 2017 model is expected to get new interior features as well as safety and semiautonomous driving technology to exceed those offered in the flagship S-class sedan. It arrives in a market in which truck sales are hot and car sales are soft.

The SLC won't have the same volume, but it is considered an important halo car.

Nissan will show Detroit audiences a truck concept derived from the platform of the redesigned Titan pickup, which is on sale. Variations of the Titan will emerge during 2016, including one with a shorter chassis. But Nissan separately has other truck products in its plans, including a redesigned full-size Armada SUV and an updated NV full-size commercial van.

Porsche continues to roll out variants of its re-engineered 2017 911. The 911 Turbo and Turbo S make their world debut in Detroit and will go on sale in the U.S. in April. The top model of the 911 range will offer more power, design changes and an expanded set of standard driving dynamic features.

The Turbo generates 540 hp and the Turbo S produces 580. They are available in coupe and convertible body styles. The 2017 Turbo S coupe accelerates from 0 to 60 mph in 2.8 seconds and has a top speed of 205 mph. Both measures mark improvements over the car's predecessor. Despite the performance gains, Porsche says the models will have better fuel economy than the outgoing cars.

Scion will show the C-HR concept that it displayed in November at the Los Angeles Auto Show.

The redesigned Smart ForTwo convertible will make its U.S. debut in Detroit. It was shown in September at the Frankfurt auto show and goes on sale in the U.S. in early summer.

It's expected to be a quiet show for Toyota. The S-FR, a tiny rwd coupe shown in October at the Tokyo Motor Show, won't be coming to the U.S. and therefore won't be in Detroit. Toyota's press conference on the second day of the show, squeezed between suppliers' press events, will feature news about its infotainment offerings.

Volkswagen will debut an off-road concept variant of a current production crossover.

The Volvo S90, the brand's bid to get back in the premium sedan game, will have its public debut in Detroit. The car was shown to reporters in early December. The S90 replaces the slow-selling S80 as Volvo's flagship sedan. It will be offered with a plug-in hybrid drivetrain.

Ryan Beene, Nick Bunkley, Lindsay Chappell, Mike Colias, Diana T. Kurylko, Gabe Nelson, David Undercoffler, Larry P. Vellequette and Amy Wilson contributed to this report.