2017 Detroit Motor Show: What cars are coming

There’s everything from a new Toyota Camry that looks to kick boring out the door, to Kia’s four-door, rear drive future

THE 2017 Detroit Motor Show kicks off in early January at the home of the US car industry. Wheels will be there for all the big global reveals as they happen, and here’s what we can expect to see.

2018 Toyota Camry

The end of Australian Camry production in late 2017 opens the door to a fully imported replacement sometime in early 2018. Toyota has only offered a glimpse of the next-gen Camry, showing a tail-light that pushes the brand’s traditionally stuffy design language, so the hope is it will be less of a merino wool cardigan and more of a Zegna-suited style leader. The updated Camry should also introduce a raft of driver assist and safety measures that our locally made version couldn’t afford to add.

2017 Kia GT

Unofficial images have leaked online, ruining some of the surprise for Kia’s rear-drive coupe. Well, only some of the surprise. The production version of the sleek-looking sports car follows much of the same lines as revealed in the 2012 concept car that heralded the arrival of a Kia we’d be keen to park in the driveway, and is only hosed down a little bit. Expect a twin-turbo V6 to slip under the bonnet for an up-spec model priced around the $50K mark when it lands here, potentially in late 2017.

2017 Mercedes-Benz E-Class Coupe

The two-door version of Merc’s middle management executive express will introduce a new model called the Mercedes-AMG E50 4matic. What’s exciting about this is that it appears to be the first roll-out of Mercedes-Benz’s M265 in-line six-cylinder engine – in an AMG-badged model! The lower number that pales slightly against the E63 badge alludes that the first straight Benz engine in donkey’s years will be a 300kW, 500Nm-plus turbocharged firecracker. However, what it is unlikely to roll out is a 48-volt system to support engine stop-start and full electric technology – that will arrive on the S-Class first.

2017 BMW 5-Series Touring

Baby’s about to get back! The big-booted version of the all-new 5 Series sedan is expected to get its first outing at Detroit, completing the four-door line-up. Sadly, seeing it from afar may be as close as we get to the Touring; Mercedes-Benz has already suggested the jacked-up E-Class All-Terrain crossover – caught somewhere between a traditional slow-selling wagon and a popular high-riding SUV – is as close as we’re likely to get to its mid-size luxury load-lugger.

2017 Lexus LS

This will be generation five of Lexus’s limousine. So far we’ve only seen a single teaser image that shows it is shaping up as a dynamic groundbreaker; double wishbones front and rear, rear drive, front-engined and wearing a big, spindle-shaped Lexus grin up front. According to Lexus, the LS will feature “visionary technology”, and be built on an extended version of Lexus's new global architecture for luxury vehicles, the (GA-L) platform. “Shared with the forthcoming LC luxury coupe, this will help the new LS deliver a more dynamic driving experience,” Lexus says.