Detroit motor show betting you’ll get sick of SUVs

The motor show in Detroit this week was stuffed with cars. Not 6,000-pound SUVs, but regular old saloons and coupés, spinning on the industry’s greatest stage like so many boring vanilla cakes.

Of the 20 or so new models unveiled at the North American International Auto Show, about half were low to the ground. Granted, these pedestrian cruisers are laced with carbon fibre and the stirrings of self-driving technology, but in form and function, this is innovation circa 1980. There’s even a Swedish estate in the mix.

Kia rolled out a four-door grand-touring saloon called the Stinger; Mercedes showed a coupé version of its E-Class; and Toyota pulled the cover off a thoroughly updated Camry.