The Detroit show served as the auto industry’s New Year’s party, as the North American International Auto Show assumed lead as the first major 2008 new-car show in North America.

Over  the three media-only days, we saw more than 40 near-future production models and concept vehicles unveiled, often with dramatic stage shows and marketing hyperbole. We cut through the hype to present our insights on the most-significant vehicles.

The Consumer Reports auto experts who were on hand to cover the North American International Auto Show were Auto Test Senior Engineer David Champion, Automotive Program Leader Gabriel Shenhar, Automotive Program Manager Jake Fisher, Senior Automotive Engineer Tom Mutchler, Senior Editor Gordon Hard, Auto Content Specialist Mike Quincy from the Connecticut-based auto test division. Automotive Editor Rik Paul, Deputy Editor Cliff Weathers, Deputy Editor Online Jeff Bartlett, Managing Editor Jonathan Linkov, Associate Editor Eric Evarts, Web Associate Editor Liza Barth were on scene from the Yonkers, NY office. CRTV Producer Susan Fuhr and cameraman/editor David Hiller created video in the field with production support from Web Interactive and Video Program Leader Rob Jenter, Web Product Analyst Eugene Chin, and CRTV Producer Iris Dudman.