Auto Shows

GENEVA -- After long insisting that a compact car was not in Lexus' U.S. product plans, Toyota officials last week confirmed that the CT 200h hybrid hatchback, unveiled here, will be sold in the United States by early next year.
A concept version was unveiled at the Tokyo auto show in October, but Toyota Motor Corp. executives said then that such a vehicle would not come to America any time soon. At the time, Lexus executives in the United States said they were pleading with Japan to bring the vehicle to the United States.
Production

Honda product executive Vicki Poponi introduces the Odyssey Concept at the Chicago Auto Show last week. The concept previews new styling for America's best-selling minivan, a new version of which is due this fall. Lower, longer and wider than the current Odyssey, the concept features a "lightning bolt" cut separating the sheet metal from the window glass. Other styling cues include steeply raked front and rear pillars and a tapered side cabin. Honda says the redesigned Odyssey will have improved interior seating and storage.

DETROIT -- Attendance at this month's Detroit auto show rose 10 percent from last year to about 715,000, organizers say.
“Our loose goal was to get as close to 700,000 as we could, and obviously we surpassed that,” said Sam Locricchio, a spokesman for the show.
“We did extremely well. The only day with a little bump in the road was Thursday, and a fire will tend to do that, but even then we were only down about 3,000.”
A small fire reported at the Audi exhibit shut the show down for a brief period Thursday

LOS ANGELES -- The next-generation Volkswagen Beetle, coming to the United States as a 2012 model, will eventually get a clean diesel engine, says Volkswagen Group of America President Stefan Jacoby.
The United States also will get an electrified version of VW's Up! hatchback in 2014, although not the gasoline-powered version.
In a world debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show, VW unveiled a four-seat electric concept, the Up! Lite. The three-door car has a two-cylinder diesel engine, a 10-kilowatt electric motor and a carbon-fiber roof.

The Tokyo Motor Show was a subdued affair this year compared to the glittering gallery of automotive excess it was in past years. But it still offered eye candy and intriguing ideas. Here are a few standouts.

Johnson Controls Inc., traditionally one of the most visible parts suppliers at the Detroit auto show, will reduce its presence this year.
The Milwaukee-based maker of seats, interiors and batteries is sharing a display this year with the state of Michigan instead of staffing a prominent display on the second floor of Cobo Center, as it has for the past 15 years, said Johnson Controls spokeswoman Debbie Lacey.
Johnson Controls also plans no press conferences during the show, she said. Typically, the company held a press conference on the

Here's the latest on production vehicles and concepts that will debut this week at the Geneva auto show or late this month at the New York show.
Among the highlights are an unusual sedan from Mercedes-Benz, Nissan's Juke small crossover and an Opel concept.

ROUEN, France -- PSA/Peugeot-Citroen could delay the introduction of plug-in diesel-electric hybrid cars as it seeks to cut costs during the economic downturn.
Ladimir Prince, manager of PSA's hybrid innovations unit, said the carmaker's plug-in hybrid project "could be delayed by a year or two."
But Prince said the economic crisis will not slow PSA's plans to launch diesel-electric hybrid cars.
Prince said PSA is still working toward launching a diesel-hybrid powertrain in 2011 in the Peugeot 3008 crossover.
He said PSA